The Daughter of Darkness
by WendyBirdxx
Summary: Sirius Black's Daughter and James Potter's Son; both grew up without their parents and became very different people because of it. Now, in their Fifth year, they are finally meeting…to discover the friendship that they should have had, and perhaps a little more…
1. The Beginning

**_Chapter One,_**

 ** _The Beginning…_**

Eleanora Black slammed the door to the Slytherin fifth year dorm and dramatically flopped down onto her bed, her book bag dropping to the ground with a loud 'thump'. Daphne Greengrass glanced up from her book briefly, an amused expression on her face, as she took in her best friend face first on the plush green quilt.

"Eleanora darling, please don't suffocate yourself, I still need to copy your Charms homework later." She commented idly, setting her book aside and turning her full attention to the blonde-haired girl on the bed next to hers. Eleanora, who had flipped over and was now laying on her back, was staring up at the glass ceiling of the girl's dormitory watching a school of fish swim by at the bottom of the Great Lake.

"Why couldn't I have been a Hufflepuff? I would have made a good Hufflepuff…" Eleanora pondered morosely, Daphne rolled her eyes at her friend's dramatics.

"This is about Harry Bloody Potter again, isn't it?!" she huffed; Eleanora had always fancied Harry Potter, ever since their Third Year when they'd discovered that boys could actually be cute. Personally, Daphne couldn't see the appeal; he was lanky and awkward and a constant troublemaker, but Eleanora insisted that he was charming and brave. There were a million and one reasons why they would never work, not least because he was a Gryffindor and she was a Slytherin, but who was Daphne to rain on her best friend's parade. Eleanora huffed in indignation and rolled over to face her brown-haired dorm-mate.

"No! Not at all! This is about how sucky it is to be in Slytherin. Do you know I had my bag split _three_ times today, three! And I got bumped into by a Weasley, I've got no idea which one, who then yelled at me as if it were _my_ fault! God I wish I were a Hufflepuff, no one cares about them!" She vented her rage and frustrations to Daphne, who sat up and shot her a playful glare.

"Bite your tongue! No one _wants_ to be a Hufflepuff. As for the rest of the school, they're all stupid and small-minded; like sheep, you _know_ this, so why does it still bother you?!" Daphne asked aggravated; being treated like crap was nothing new in Slytherin house, it was something that they had all quickly learnt to deal with during their first year. But Eleanora still struggled with how quickly and harshly they were judged, she had always been very sensitive about how people misjudge her, leftover guilt from her family, Daphne supposed.

"Just because I know it, doesn't mean I have to like it! There is so much going on in our world, a bloody _war_ on the horizon for starters! But instead of uniting together to defeat the Dark Lord, everyone just seems content to continue along the path that brought us here in the first place! Like, do they not see, that the way they discriminate against us for being in Slytherin is the **Exact** _._ **Same** _._ **Way.** the Dark Lord and his supporter's discriminate against Muggleborns and Half-Bloods?!" Eleanora huffed and flopped back down on the bed, stopping the pacing that she had unconsciously started doing during her passionate speech.

Daphne flopped back onto her back as well; she knew that Eleanora was right, of course. Things couldn't continue the way that they were, even if Saint Harry Potter did pull it off and actually defeated the Dark Lord like the rumors suggested he was training to do, it would only be a matter of time before another Dark Lord/Lady rose out of the divided society that they lived in.

As a society they were fundamentally flawed, with separate laws for those with status and for those who's blood either wasn't completely magical, or completely human. And while she personally reaped many benefits from the current system, Daphne knew that it was in desperate need of change if they were ever going to achieve any sort of cohesion in their world.

The only problem; How do you get people to change when they can't even see that there is a problem? Sure, people can see what is happening to Muggleborns and Magical Creatures in the outside world, the laws that limit them and what they are able to do, but precious few are able to connect that to the prejudices that are allowed to grow within the walls of Hogwarts.

Those teachers who do nothing to stem the growing rivalries because 'oh, it has always been like this!' Or who actively encourage them like her own Head of House. They send the damning message that prejudice is okay, so long as the many believe in it. House-elves, Centaurs, Giants, Goblins are all considered inferior because they aren't human, the same can be said for Muggleborns, how often teachers are surprised when a Muggleborn is at the top of the class, because they expect them to be lesser since they are not full Wizards.

Daphne felt that it was a sad truth; that in the end we usually become what we are expected to be. For example, in the Auror Department ex-Gryffindors' out number ex-Slytherins' 8 to 1, Slytherin Aurors have to work harder to prove themselves brave and worthy. After leaving Hogwarts, most Ravenclaws go into Law and government, Hufflepuffs are most likely to go into Medicine, and Slytherin's tend to go into politics or business.

"No dear, you don't have to like it, but you do have to accept it. Gryffindor's and Slytherin's don't mix, and probably never will mix! We're just too different; they don't understand the way we think and view the world, and we probably can't see things the way that they do and don't understand why they act the way that they do. Besides, we have more than enough trouble within our own house without adding in what the rest of the school thinks of us!" Daphne said sternly, trying to make her best friend see the cold truth that they have to live by.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right Daph…I just wish it were different sometimes…" Eleanora sighed, not quite ready to believe that this was all there was to their lives, that she would never be seen as anything more than a Slytherin.

"I swear you're living with your head in the clouds Nora!" Daphne admonished as she rose up off of her bed, relaxation time well and truly over, and grabbed Eleanora's bag from the end of her bed and started rummaging through it to find her Charms notes.

"Shut up! I just want things to change is all, is that such an awful thing to want?!" Eleanora laughed, yet she still felt restless in her position in life. Daphne paused, her quill hovering above the ink well, she could tell that this was still bothering her best friend despite allowing the subject to be dropped. Daphne decided to give her friend something to mull over, so she could hopefully copy out her homework in peace without a brooding blonde distracting her.

"Look, Eleanora. If you want something to change, change it. Stop wishing and wanting, go out there and do whatever you want to do. You're a Slytherin dear, if anyone can make it happen it's you." She said, sounding a lot more sagely than she felt, but it had the desired effect, Eleanora sat up straighter, a determined look on her face, as she pulled a piece of parchment towards her to brainstorm ideas.

Eleanora mulled over her best friends unusually wise words, if she wanted things to change, then it was up to her to make sure that they did. She knew that if she didn't start trying to change the attitudes of their fellow classmates, no one else would.

Eleanora felt a lot better now that she had something to actively work towards, she grabbed a spare bit of parchment and a quill from the pile Daphne had sat on her bed, as her friend began to painstakingly copy out Eleanora's rather long essay into her own words, Eleanora thought about her first major obstacle in getting the whole school to change their minds about prejudice; how the hell was she supposed to get anyone to even listen to what a Slytherin had to say?!

Later that night, after Daphne cursing her for her small handwriting and rambling sentences, they retired to bed with Eleanora still nowhere close to figuring out her problem of getting people to listen to what she had to say.

They were all settled snug in their beds, drifting off to sleep when it happened, Eleanora had a brainwave, she sat bolt upright and shouted

"I've got it!"

Forgetting where she was and what time it was in her excitement, she lit a lamp and jotted down her idea on the parchment next to her bed that she kept there for this exact reason.

The other girls in the room grumbled at her and turned away from the light. Daphne, who's face was right next to the rather bright light scrunched her eyes tighter together to block it out and rolled onto her back.

"That's nice dear… but if you don't turn off that light in ten seconds I'll make sure you're never able to have another thought ever again." She muttered, a mix of condescending and threatening that Eleanora knew from experience meant she was deadly serious, so the light was quickly extinguished and Eleanora went to sleep with a grin on her face.

She had a plan.

 _ **AN:**_ This is something that I've had sitting on my computer for a while now, an old NaNoWriMo entry, and in an effort to avoid school work and other responsibilities I've decided to publish what I have written and finish it off. Hopefully you enjoy the story and let me know your thoughts, feelings, and opinions.

Obviously the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


	2. Innocent Stalking

**_Chapter Two,_**

 ** _The Completely Innocent Stalking of Harry Potter…_**

In the light of the next morning Eleanora's plan didn't feel as brilliant as it had last night. Standing in front of the full length mirror in their dorm she fusses with her hair and uniform and tries to talk herself into being brave and going for it.

"I can do this, I _can_ do this! It's not creepy, it's not weird, it's just…research! I'm just doing research, like I would before undertaking any assignment! Oh, _Merlin_ I'm such a creep! There's no way this will work! Not in a thousand years…" The rest of her rant was muffled by the pillow Eleanora had thrown herself on in despair.

Daphne, who had just exited the bathroom, sat calmly on her bed and began to sort out the books she would need for the day.

"Did you say something dear?" She asked sweetly, having heard the majority of Eleanora's ramblings but choosing to ignore them.

Eleanora, who knew her best friend well enough to hear the teasing in her tone, pulled away from the pillow to stick her tongue out at Daphne, she then heaved herself up off of the bed and back in front of the mirror.

"Nothing Daphy! I was just generating positivity, positive thought lead to positive outcomes you know?!" She said teasingly, mocking the words they had often heard from Daphne's overly cheery mother. Daphne rolled her eyes; both at the horrible nickname she had detested all her life, and the words she is forced to hear every day of her holidays. She twirls her wand around her fingers,

"Don't think I won't hex you Black! Continue your ramblings and leave my family out of them please." She jokingly threatened. Eleanora's eyes narrowed and she tucked a wispy curl behind her ear.

"I was just telling myself that I could do this, and that nothing bad is going to happen!" She said brightly, determined to believe her own words. Daphne snorted with laughter then flinched, expecting the stinging hex that always accompanied such unladylike behaviour.

"Oh yes, absolutely _nothing_ bad is going to happen…except perhaps utter humiliation in front of the entire school, rejection from Potter himself, or even possible expulsion…you know, for looking at Dumbledore's 'Golden Boy' the wrong way…" Daphne ticked off her points on her fingers as she listed them.

Eleanora's already fair complexion paled considerably at each of Daphne's points, she gripped handfuls of her hair in despair and looked at her own reflection with wild eyes.

"What _am_ I doing? Of course I can't do this! How daft must I be to think that this would ever work, that he'd what? Conveniently overlook the green on my uniform and treat me like anyone else?! All I would achieve is unwanted attention from the whole school. He probably wouldn't even speak to me, he'd…OW!"

Eleanora's rant was abruptly cut off by the stinging hex Daphne had fired at her bottom, she rubbed her rear and shot a withering look at her best friend. Daphne, who was more than a bit proud of her aim, allowed a victorious smirk to momentarily appear before getting up and hugging her friend in an effort to calm her panic.

"Look at me, you're going to be fine. Everything will be fine, I was just making fun, you know how I get!" Daphne said in an effort to ease her friend's anxiety, Eleanora allowed Daphne to lead her over to her bed and sit her down, Daphne grabbed the brush sitting on the nightstand and began to work out the tangles Eleanora had caused in her worry.

"I promise Nora, no harm can come from simply asking a question. Now, tell me this plan again before we head down to breakfast!" Daphne instructed as she sat down the brush and began to french braid Eleanora's curls.

"You're right, it's just a question, nothing to cause the end of the world. Okay, well I'm going to wait until I find a time when I know Harry Potter will be alone and away from people who might eavesdrop. Then I'm going to ask him if I can join his super secret Defense Club… if it actually exists that is. Pansy reckons it does, but then she honestly believed that he was the Heir of Slytherin in Second Year!" Eleanora explained, laughing a little at their year mate Pansy's ability to believe anything that comes out of Draco's mouth.

"…That's it? That's the whole plan?" Daphne tried, and failed, to keep the disbelief and uncertainty out of her voice. Eleanora got up off of the bed and began pacing anew, the braid Daphne had almost finished unraveling with her movements. Her mouth is moving rapidly, but no sound comes forth. After a delayed minute Eleanora paused in her pacing, realising that her words are not forming, and looks to Daphne quizzically.

"The next spell I aim at your face will be a stinging hex if you don't sit back down and let me finish this damn braid!" Threatened Daphne, who's wand was still pointed at her blonde friend, Eleanora sullenly complied and Daphne got back to work.

"Now you listen to me. This plan is going to work, you want to know how I know this plan is going to work? Because we are Slytherins; and convincing people is what we do best…actually, using our brains _practically_ is what we do best, so convincing is what we do second best, but I digress. The point is; you can do this! Just be honest, Gryffindor's love that sort of thing! I mean, you really _do_ need to learn defense, and you really _are_ on his side about the whole Dark Lord thing so it's fine, he'll have to believe you!" She said confidently, securing the end of the braid with an emerald coloured ribbon and resting it over Eleanora's shoulder.

Eleanora, who's voice was still stolen by the Silencing charm, could only nod her agreement at Daphne's assessment as she began to feel confident for the first time that morning. Daphne reversed the charm and, feeling as though Eleanora was about as distracted as she could possibly get, jumped off of the bed and held out her hand.

"Well, let's go get some breakfast. Then the completely innocent, and not at all creepy or weird, stalking of Harry Potter can commence!"

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 _ **AN:**_ Thank you to everyone who has viewed the story, I am honestly amazed at how many people have actually found my little daydream entertaining! Also a big thank you to **_SB- Potterhead Budgie Lover_** and _**HPuni101**_ for being my first ever reviewers, it honestly means the world to me! Please keep the views coming and let me know your thoughts, feelings and opinions.

As always, the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


	3. Well, That Was Easy

**_Chapter Three,_**

 ** _Well, That Was Easy…_**

Eleanora re-read the passage on cheering charms for the sixth time, resisting the urge to scream in frustration.

Three days, it had been three bloody days! Since she had started, for lack of a better word, _stalking_ Harry Potter. And she had not seen him on his own once, it was like the boy was incapable of being left alone!

Currently he was in the library, with Granger and Weasley of course! And was reading up on books that Umbridge certainly hadn't approved for their DADA lessons, lending further proof to the fact that he was teaching some sort of secret defence group.

Eleanora was beginning to feel that this whole endeavour was hopeless, that even if she could get him on his own, he was about as likely to let her into his secret defence club as Snape snogging Umbridge in the Great Hall. Cutting off that thought with a disgusted shiver she glanced across at the Golden Trio's chosen table, and felt her heart stop; he was gone! Harry had just disappeared from the table. Discreetly as possible Eleanora glanced around the library to see where he had gotten to, relief filled her when she saw him disappearing into the stacks with a few books. She took a deep breath to calm the butterflies that had sprung to life in her stomach and rose from her seat.

Eleanora stood up and pushed her hair behind her ear, intending to follow him, to get him on his own. The last thing she wanted was an audience and this was the first time in three days that she had seen him without Granger and Weasley stuck to him like a sticking charm, he turned around to grab something and she quickly averted her gaze, picking up the Charms text she was finished with and returning it to its place on the shelf, on the opposite side of the room to him.

"Ugh, this is ridiculous!" She quietly growled to herself, she needed to put on her big girl panties and Gryffindor-up. She only had to talk to him, the worst that could happen was him saying no right?

'Well actually, he could take one look at the green on your robes and curse you into next week', her traitorous brain supplied. Eleanora shook her head to get rid of those negative thoughts and gathered up her supplies, heading towards the back of the room where she had seen him disappear from sight a few moments ago. She needed to do this, to at least ask for his help, if he said no then she would accept that and move on, but she needed to at least try.

As she rounded the corner Eleanora saw Harry place his last book, she cleared her throat to get his attention. He spun around quickly, hand already going towards his wand, apparently four years of near-death experiences had made him a little twitchy.

"Can I help you?" Harry asked skeptically, eyeing up her green robes and keeping his hand firmly on his wand, ready to draw it at a moments notice. Given his past encounters with Slytherin, Eleanora could hardly blame him. However, it was counterproductive to what she wanted to achieve, somehow she needed to set him at ease and prove she wasn't here to start a fight, otherwise he might just dismiss her plea without even considering it.

Weighing her, very limited, options Eleanora decides to just be as straight forward as possible and hope that he would see her sincerity.

"Uh, yes…actually, you can. I want to join your club." Eleanora said, coming across far more tentative than she would've liked. Harry looked shocked for a moment, before schooling his features into something resembling neutral,

"Club? I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about…" He said, rather unconvincingly in Eleanora's opinion. She laughed quietly and rolled her eyes at his pathetic acting.

"Wow. You are truly terrible at lying! Seriously… just, wow. How do you get away with anything?!" She asked incredulously, regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth; she needed him to want to let her into his group, and insulting him probably wasn't the best way to go about it.

"So what if there is, why do you even care?! Why don't you just run along to Umbridge if you already know everything?" He said angrily, Eleanora rolled her eyes at his poor insult and stood her ground.

"Oh please! I'd rather run naked through the great hall on Halloween than spend one second longer than what is required with that awful woman!" Eleanora declared fiercely.

Harry's mouth dropped open and he seemed to have difficulty forming words, she couldn't be sure if it was because of the views she had expressed, or if he were simply imagining her streaking through the great hall. Eleanora coughed to re-focus his attention, and the blush on his cheeks pointed to the latter of the options.

"Oh, um…but I thought that she favoured Slytherin?" Harry stuttered out quickly, recovering from his embarrassment. Eleanora leant back against the library stack with Harry unconsciously mimicking her movement, that had to be a good sign right? He didn't look overly uncomfortable or eager to leave, maybe she was in for a shot after all!

"Well yeah, but no spell-check quills, a ban on sweets, no music during study, and banning 'non educational' games. I don't know a single person, Slytherin or not, that's happy that she's here interfering." Eleanora said easily, this may not have been the conversation she was expecting to have but it was a conversation nonetheless. Harry chuckled in agreement before seemingly coming to his senses and realising exactly who he was conversing with, straightening up he eyed her curiously and with a little suspicion.

"But why would you want to join a defence club?" He asked cautiously, Eleanora took a breath and straightened up from her casual stance, it was now or never.

"I believe you." She said simply, at his blank confused look she continued,

"Look, I know that there is a war coming, even if you hadn't announced to the whole world that the Dark Lord is back, there have been…shifts in the common room, and I would like to be prepared."

"Shifts? What do you mean?" He asked concernedly, wondering for the first time exactly what went on in the Slytherin Common Room. Eleanora sighed and tossed her hair back, debating just how much to reveal to the boy in front of her.

"I _mean_ that the children who's families supported the Dark Lord last time have been gaining confidence, talking about a second chance for Pureblood glory and all that other claptrap. It is quiet, and subtle, but it _is_ there." She explained in a hushed tone, not wanting to be overheard by the wrong people. For his part, Harry's mouth was opening and closing in surprise at the new information, but no sound was coming out. In the back of her mind Eleanora idly wondered if this was the longest conversation he'd ever had with a Slytherin.

"But, I thought…that Slytherin's…" He trailed off sheepishly but Eleanora finished his sentence angrily,

"What? Were all dark? All evil? Well I've got news for you Potter, Slytherin is far more divided than you could possibly imagine! With a number of people, myself included, who oppose the Dark Lord just as strongly as you do. Only, we don't get the chance to express our feelings or act on them, all because of judgmental _gits_ who decide that we must be evil because we wear green, which, by the way, is just as bad as judging someone because of their blood!" Eleanora fumed, face flushed in anger, the stunned look on Harry's face only giving rise to her long contained anger.

"I know that there is a war coming and that there are people _I_ need to protect, people who wouldn't be considered 'pure' enough to be apart of His new world. But I can't protect them when Umbridge refuses to teach us anything, that is why I'm coming to you for help, _will you help me?_ " Eleanora asked, pleaded, praying to whatever deities existed that he wouldn't take offence to her outburst.

Harry looked thoughtfully at the girl in front of him, still a little in shock at her honest outburst, but he knew she was right. He had been untrusting of her because she was a Slytherin, because Draco was an evil git so the rest of the house must be too. Even giving it a second thought made Harry realise how stupid it actually was, judging a bunch of people he didn't know simply because of what house they had been sorted into at 11.

"Uh… look, thanks… you know, for believing in me. And I would be fine with you joining our, um…club… But I'm just not sure that you would, uh, fit in with the other members… they may be, a little wary, about letting in a… you know…" He stuttered through his answer, wanting to help this girl, who's name he didn't even know, but knowing exactly how badly it would be received if he brought it up to his friends.

"A snake?" She finished for him, Harry shrugged his shoulders guiltily. Eleanora brushed off the insult; in her first year at Hogwarts it had upset her, how easily the rest of the student body hated her because of a stupid colour, but five years had desensitised her to the insults that came with being a Slytherin. Besides she almost had him, she could feel it, and a small insult that she had heard countless times would not distract her from her goal.

"Look, if you could just get me in, I can hold my own against anyone who says I shouldn't be there. I just need one chance; to prove myself and show them that not all Slytherins are evil idiots like Draco." She pleaded, and Harry could see the sincerity shining in her grey eyes. His mind was made up, regardless of how much Hermione and Ron would argue and try to dissuade him, this girl needed his help and he couldn't, in good conscience, turn his back on her and let her get hurt.

"Alright, I'll let you know when we organise the next meeting, we've only had one so you shouldn't be too far behind. I can't promise that everyone will be happy with you joining us…" Harry warned, Eleanora beamed in delight; he had said yes! She stepped forward as if to hug him before thinking better of her actions and settled for sticking out her hand for a handshake.

"Thank you ever so much, I _promise_ I won't let you down! I only ask that you be…discreet, when letting me know about the meeting. Only, a Gryffindor speaking to a Slytherin without insults could be seen as suspicious and I really don't need any trouble with my house at the moment…" She requested, Harry nodded his acceptance and Eleanora turned to leave, already planning how best to surprise Daphne with the news that her plan had actually worked! Harry watched the blonde Slytherin turn to leave, already trying to work out how to break the news to Ron and Hermione without getting yelled at when he realised something,

"Wait! I don't actually know your name…" He called, the girl flicked her hair over her shoulder as she looked back.

"It's Eleanora."

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 **AN:** Thanks again for all the support and love this story is receiving, especially to **morganna12** , **Michand** and **EmeraldGuardian7** for taking the time to review. I hope you all continue to enjoy what I am writing and please let me know any thoughts, views or opinions you might have.

Once again, the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


	4. Admitting His Agreement

**_Chapter Four,_**

 ** _Admitting His Agreement…_**

Harry returned to his table in a daze, having completely forgotten the books that Hermione had sent him to go find. His friends watched him worriedly as he watched Eleanora exit the library swiftly, finally Hermione couldn't take the silence any longer.

"Harry? What's gong on, are you alright?" She asked concernedly, Harry nodded before packing up his belongings, they needed to have a conversation and it certainly shouldn't be somewhere they could be overheard.

"Yeah I'm fine Hermione, but there's something I need to talk to you guys about…but maybe in the common room where we won't be overheard." He said quietly, and that was all it took for his two best friends to pack their things immediately and follow him out of the library.

* * *

"…So I said she could join us at the next meeting." Harry finished explaining the strange encounter he'd just had in the library, he watched his friends carefully for their reactions; Ron's ears and neck were bright red, a good indication that he was close to loosing his temper, Hermione was more difficult to read but her pursed lips didn't give Harry much hope. Sure enough Ron broke the silence in the near-empty Gryffindor Common Room.

"You what?! What the bloody hell were you thinking mate, she's a snake! She'll probably run off to Umbridge to tell her everything about the club if she hasn't already!" He roared, fortunately the only other people in the common room were a few of the other DA members, because secrecy was well and truly out the window now.

"What's going on? What's with all the yelling?" Ginny asked as she, Neville and some of the other Gryffindor members of the DA approached the trio.

"Harry's just told a slimy snake all about the DA is 'what's going on'! She's probably telling Umbridge everything about us right now!" Ron declared furiously, his anger echoed in the protests some of the others made upon hearing the information.

" _What_!?"

"Harry, how could you?!"

"What are we going to do?"

"Look! Eleanora came to me because she doesn't believe in Pureblood supremacy, she opposes Voldemort just like we do. She isn't going to run off to Umbridge, she just wants to learn to fight, like everyone else in the DA! Is that so hard to believe?" Harry defended himself, his anger rising at how negative everyone was being about someone they didn't even know. Hermione, who had been silent so far, added her opinion into the mix.

"Harry, I know you're trying to do a good thing, but this is a secret, _illegal_ club. How can you trust someone that none of us even know to keep that secret, you don't know her motives, how can you believe anything that she has to say?" She reasoned gently, well aware of her friend's temper.

"Yeah, I mean she was put in Slytherin for a reason Harry." Ginny added, unhelpfully in both Harry and Hermione's opinion. Harry was furious at the discrimination his friends were showing, he was about to tell all of them his thoughts on their behaviour when Neville, of all people, stepped up to his side.

"That's not fair. Yes she may be in Slytherin, but that doesn't mean that she is immediately untrustworthy. We've got no idea what its like in her common room, or how awful a time someone would have if they didn't believe in the traditional Pureblood ideals, she might genuinely need our help! This might be a chance for her to get out of a dark environment and be around people who can show her what good looks like!" Neville said courageously, the way he had when he first stood up to Harry, Ron and Hermione during their first year. Harry was proud of his friend for finding courage, and glad to have at least one person on his side.

"Also when you think about it, discriminating against someone because of their house is a lot like discriminating against someone because of their blood." Harry added, remembering when Eleanora had told him that earlier. The other DA members looked aghast at the comparison, but still unsure of Harry's judgement of the girl. Finally Hermione offered a tentative solution.

"How about we write to our _friends_ to ask them for advice? See what they think we should do." She cryptically proposed, after a little prodding from the other DA members she relented and admitted that one of their friends was the former professor Lupin, but remained tight-lipped on the other friend's identity. This reassured the group and it was agreed to by those present, Hermione scurried away to get paper and ink as everyone else disbanded.

After writing fervently for a few minutes, occasionally crossing out and rewriting some sentences, she had finished her first draft. She proudly examined her work for a few moments before moving back over to where Harry and Ron were still sitting.

"Okay, I think this will work, I didn't want to make it too obvious what we were doing in case someone reads it like they did with Harry's. Although I don't think Umbridge would be as interested in my mail as a muggleborn as she would be with Harry's but still, you can never be too careful. But I still need Remus and Sirius to understand what we are talking about, what do you guys think?" She asked anxiously, handing them the letter to read.

 _Dear Remus (and Snuffles),_

 _I hope this letter finds you well, because in our little group we have a disagreement we hope you can settle._

 _There is a girl in our year from Slytherin, her name is Eleanora Black, who asked Harry if she could join our little group for some help with study._

 _Harry is all for it of course and says we should help anyone who asks, but Ron is a little sceptical of her trustworthiness and whether or not she would end up betraying us._

 _I feel rather stuck in the middle and remain undecided, which is why we are writing to you to help us settle this debate._

 _Any advice or suggestions you could provide would be greatly appreciated._

 _All our love to you and Snuffles,_

 _Hermione, Harry and Ron._

"I think its great Hermione, you should send it off as soon as possible." Harry said, eager to get their response quickly so that Eleanora could join the DA at the next meeting. Ron agreed that the letter would work and Hermione went away again to quickly rewrite the letter neatly and seal it in an envelope.

"I'll send it just before dinner, so that it's less likely to get intercepted, but I think we should wait to hear back from them before we schedule another meeting, to see what they have to say." She announced to the two boys, who agreed with her reasoning. They settled down to complete some of the homework that they had been given that day and not another word was said on the subject.

Hours later, as they bid goodbye to Hermione as she separated from them to send the letter, Harry entered the Great Hall with Ron and immediately his eyes sought out the blonde Slytherin who had become the cause of all this drama. She was sitting with a brunette girl and, to Harry's sinking disappointment, Draco Malfoy and his goons. Harry steered Ron to the Gryffindor table and took the seats facing away from the Slytherins, the sinking feeling refusing to go away as his best mate tucked in without further thought. Harry hoped that his initial gut feeling was right and that Eleanora could be trusted, he also hoped that Remus and Sirius agreed with his decision and backed him up.

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 _ **AN**_ _:_ I am still in disbelief at the amount of support my little story is getting! Having struggled with mental illness your support means everything to me and words cannot express how grateful I am for your encouragement and support 3 I'm very sorry with how overdue this chapter is, but I am currently at the business end of semester and I'm trying to keep on top of my studies as well as earning enough money to live, so writing has fallen slightly by the wayside for the moment! Not to worry, there isn't long to go now and then I will be able to devote my time almost entirely to writing! A huge thank you to; **EmeraldGuardian7** , **Richasa** , **Ollivander7** , **XxDragon King DragneelxX** , and **ImsebastianstanButter** for reviewing on the last chapter!

To my everlasting despair, the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


	5. The Surprise

**_Chapter Five,_**

 ** _The Surprise…_**

It was just another normal morning in Grimmauld Place when Sirius and Remus made their way downstairs for breakfast to find a barn owl waiting with a letter. Sirius continued on with his routine of preparing some eggs and toast while Remus walked over to the owl to relieve it of the burden.

Pondering who would be writing to them as he examined the front of the envelope, he hoped that it wasn't Harry writing to tell them about some new crazy scheme, having already orchestrated an illegal club right under the authorities noses. Honestly, Remus though to himself humorously, Harry could act so much like James sometimes that it bordered on eerie.

Upon opening the letter and reading the surprisingly short and to the point missive from Hermione, Remus turns a deathly shade of pale, something Sirius had yet to notice as he continued to prepare breakfast for the two of them.

"Do you want two or three pieces of toast Moony? Moony, did you hea… what's the matter?" Sirius asked, finally taking in the expression on his longtime friend's face. Remus looked again at the letter he had received then back to his friend, unsure of how to explain, and wary of his friend's reaction, he took a deep breath to calm himself and eventually settled for;

"I've just received a letter from the kids, they want our advice on what to do about a Slytherin girl who wants to join their defence club…" he said cautiously. Sirius stopped what he was working on and turned his full attention to Remus,

"A Slytherin? How did she even hear about it? Not that it really matters because I know thats not what's got you so rattled, so what's really wrong?" He asked demandingly, Remus handed the letter over with slightly shaking hands.

"The girl's name is Eleanora Black…"

What little colour Sirius had gained since escaping Azkaban drained from his face at the news, he sat down heavily on the chair next to Remus and read the letter frantically.

"That's not possible, it can't be possible…" he muttered reading and re-reading the letter in hopes that the message contained inside would change. Remus watched his friend with a mixture of concern and slight disbelief,

"Is it… could it be who I think it is?" Remus asked timidly, his worry growing when Sirius didn't answer him straight away, eventually the black haired man looked up from the letter and to his oldest friend.

"I don't know…" he whispered hoarsely, his eyes were trained on the paper in his hand but his mind was a million miles, or rather 16 years, away.

. . .

Two hours later saw the men still sitting in their same positions at the breakfast table, not having moved since receiving the letter. Their silent contemplation was broken by a muttering Kreacher as he shuffled into the room, it seemed to break the spell that had held them silently in place as Remus immediately jumped up to begin preparing a strong cup of tea for the both of them. Sirius had yet to move from his shock-induced stupor and seeing how upset and distraught his friend was over this new piece of information Remus offered some words he hoped would be comforting.

"Look Pads, we shouldn't get to worried over this, it might not even be her! After all Black is a very common surname in the muggle world."

Sirius nodded absentmindedly, not sure if he should feel hopeful or worried about the fact that his long lost child may currently be at Hogwarts with his Godson. Noticing that Remus was still eyeing him warily, Sirius gave him what he hoped looked like a reassuring smile.

"You're right Remus. I mean I don't even know if I have a son or a daughter, Marlene had left before we could find out…" Sirius thought back in regret at how his last days with his wife had been filled with arguments and fighting, how he had returned home one night to an empty apartment and a note on the bed. He wondered, not for the first time, what had happened to her; did she survive? Had she heard about what he had been accused of? Did she ever think of him? What had happened to their child, could it really be the mysterious Slytherin girl in the letter?

In danger of loosing the escapee to his own mind Remus continued his friend's train of thought, trying to figure out the logical conclusion to the question that was burning in both their minds.

"Marlene left the country to keep the baby safe right? So it makes sense that she wouldn't have returned during the war, the boarders were closed. She probably stayed away and raised the child overseas, so it would make sense that the child went to one of the foreign magic schools rather than Hogwarts anyway." Remus reasoned to his distraught friend, handing him the cup of tea and taking a sip of his own.

It was an incredibly slim chance that Sirius' missing child had returned to England and had enrolled at Hogwarts, although it _was_ quite unsettling that a girl who was about the right age and had the same last name had suddenly turned up in Harry's life out of the blue, but it was simply a coincidence, it had to be…

"You're right Moony, it's unlikely that the girl is any relation to me. Almost impossible actually." Sirius said, settling the matter. Remus could tell that the question was still bothering the man but allowed the subject to be dropped as he left the breakfast table to fetch a fresh sheet of parchment and his quill. He returned a few moments later and settled down to scratch out his response, Sirius had returned to cooking toast as he asked conversationally,

"So what are you going to tell them?"

"I'm going to tell them to let her join…" Sirius began to splutter but Remus held up a hand, forestalling his argument.

"This isn't about you and your vendetta against Slytherin. This is about girl who has asked for help, a Slytherin _asking_ a Gryffindor for help means that she is obviously desperate. Besides, they can't refuse to let her in just because she's a Slytherin, that would be as bad as excluding someone because of their blood status…or because they have a furry little problem." Remus said pointedly as Sirius' opposition deflated.

"But, what if it's a trap? Get them to trust her and then sell them out! They'll need to be careful with what they tell her." Sirius cautioned and Remus nodded in agreement, adding to the letter.

"I know, I'm telling them to be careful with what they reveal, but in the end it's their judgement to make, and Harry's always been a pretty good judge of character, we'll just have to trust him." Remus said decisively, his quill hovering above the parchment as he thought about the one last piece of information they had discovered and whether or not to include it, eventually turning to his best friend to seek his opinion.

"Should we tell them what we suspect about her?" Remus queried, deferring to his friend because the decision ultimately did not lie with him. Sirius scrubbed his hands across his face in frustration, he was frustrated from not knowing more about what happened to his wife and child after the war and frustrated in himself for not really giving them a second thought until now.

"No don't tell them, I don't want…no. There are too many 'what ifs' to be sure, we'll wait until we know more before telling them that my child could potentially be at Hogwarts." Sirius finally decided, clearing his and Remus' plates as Kreacher hurried out of the kitchen without even offering to help.

Sirius watched baffled and slightly amused as the little elf moved faster than he had ever though possible; he amused himself by wondering if perhaps the awful creature would run that fast if he threatened him with clothes, he was pretty useless when it came to cleanliness and housekeeping, the dilapidated state of the ancestral home was proof enough for his termination. Sirius sighed wistfully as Remus put the finishing touches on his letter and sealed it up to send, if only Kreacher didn't know so much about the Order or Sirius would have him out on the street in a heartbeat.

"I'll take this to the post office later today while I'm out, I could maybe see if I can find out anything about Marlene if you'd like?" Remus offered tentatively, breaking Sirius out of his wistful musings and back into cold reality.

He nodded grimly to his werewolf friend, knowing that he needed to have answers whether he liked them or not. As Remus disappeared upstairs to change into some day robes Sirius pondered the question that had plagued him since Remus had shown him the letter;

'But what if she is?'

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 **AN:** Another chapter for you lovely people to read and enjoy to celebrate the fact that I am almost through the hell that is Exams, just two more to go and then I get to jump on a plane to the beautiful USA for seven weeks! I'm soooo excited! I've got 15 days till I take off so hopefully I'll be finished editing the next chapter and have it posted for you guys to read while I'm away. I'm quite excited for you to read the next chapter, it's one of my favourites that I've written so far for this story and I'm dying to hear what you think…literally, the suspense is killing me! A huge thank you to; **TheBull017** , **Richasa** , **Ollivander7** , **XxDragon King DragneelxX** , **pasokditto** and **Michand** for reviewing on the last chapter, I get so excited to see what you think so please keep them coming!

Despite my best efforts, the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


	6. Eleanora VS The DA

_Chapter 6,_

 _Eleanora VS The D.A…_

Taking a deep breath Eleanora ascended the final flight of stairs that deposited her into the empty and abandoned seventh floor corridor. She looked left and right for any sign of life, preferably one of the other students attending the meeting tonight rather that Filch or Mrs. Norris, but nothing moved in the ancient castle.

Wand out and at the ready, because it's been drilled into her to be prepared for an attack at any moment ever since her first day, Eleanora tentatively made her way further down the corridor towards a stretch of wall that Harry had promised her would lead her to the meeting.

Her wand hand trembled slightly as she crept closer to her destination, clutching the stick tighter in her grasp Eleanora huffed in frustration at herself. For Merlin's sake, she was a grown woman! Well _… almost,_ anyway. She did not tremble in fear, she had not trembled since she was a small child,

…at the funeral…

'No, no more!' she stopped that thought harshly, because taking a stroll down a rather morbid memory lane was the exact opposite of what she needed right now.

She steeled herself as she reached the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy; this was it, she needed to be strong. She was either about to walk into a room full of people who distrust her (the best case scenario), or she was about to be the butt of some ridiculous prank that Harry and his friend had cooked up for their own amusement.

She turned to face the blank wall,

and started to pace.

 _I need a place to learn defence,_

 _I need a place to learn defence,_

 _I need…_

A door slowly started to grow, yes… _grow_ , out of the previously empty wall in front of her. Without giving herself time to think and second guess herself, Eleanora stalked forward and twisted the doorknob, letting herself into the room…and into the lion's den.

. . .

All noise ceased as the door banged shut behind her and she was faced with a sea of disapproving and hostile faces. Suddenly Harry's face popped up from behind a group of people, like a ray of sunshine in the storm.

"Eleanora! You made it, good. Uh, everyone this is Eleanora…our newest member, Eleanora this is, well…everyone." Harry finished somewhat lamely, aware of the tension that was so palpable in the room. Eleanora gave a little half wave as people began to turn away and chat in groups, by the harshness of the whispers she assumed that they were about as welcoming as Harry had warned her they would be. She noticed Harry approaching her along with his two best friends and she began to move away from the door in order to meet them half-way.

"Hi Eleanora, I'm Hermione…this is Ron. We're so glad that you could make it…" She trailed off slightly as the redhead beside her gave a disbelieving grunt but continued with her greeting,

"If you'll just sign this parchment like everyone else then you'll be an official member!" She said with an enthusiasm that wasn't entirely forced, as she handed over a sheet of parchment that had the words 'Dumbledore's Army' printed carefully at the top and over a dozen other signatures underneath it. Using her wand that was still gripped loosely in her hand Eleanora tapped the parchment and muttered a short spell, not surprised in the slightest when the sheet glowed light blue.

"What spells are on this?" She asked, directing her question to the bushy-haired brunette who seemed to be in charge of this side of the meeting. Hermione blinked owlishly as a light pink blush dusted her cheeks, apparently she hadn't been expecting Eleanora to question being asked to sign a strange sheet of parchment, what did these people take her for?

"Why would you ask that?" Hermione asked, her voice now significantly higher in pitch.

"Um, because I'm not stupid? I'd never sign anything without checking it for spells first, it's just common sense…" Eleanora trailed off looking at the bemused and chastised faces of the people around them who had been shamelessly eavesdropping. Ron's face had taken on a tinge of pink that clashed horribly with his hair as he hotly replied,

"There's nothing wrong with the parchment! And if you don't sign you can't be a part of the club, so either sign it or leave!" He said, rather smugly in Eleanora's opinion, she was about to retort angrily when she caught Harry's expression out of the corner of her eye.

He was eyeing the two of them warily, just waiting for the impending argument to explode, and the sight alone was enough for her anger to abate significantly.

Because Harry had just taken a huge risk for her, inviting her into this club despite, what she had to assume was a massive opposition by the majority of people present. However she knew from experience that the generosity would not last, that if she continued to be the source of dissension and ill will, Harry would of course chose his friends over her, and she would be back to square one…again. So she swallowed her pride, it was a bitter pill, and motioned silently for the parchment. As she signed her name to the bottom of the list she mentioned to Hermione in an undertone,

"At some stage I would still like to know what exactly I have just agreed to." Hermione just nodded slightly, took the parchment off of her and tacked it back onto the wall. Harry clapped his hands to get everyones attention on him,

"Alright, now that everyone's here, lets split up and start working on the Stunning spell, Stunning is one of the most useful spells in your arsenal. It's sort of a wizard's bread and butter, really." Harry said as everyone started to pair off, and Eleanora felt that familiar dread work its way back up into her throat as she was left standing alone without a partner.

'And another battle begins'

she thought dryly as she sized up who looked the least disgusted by her presence.

She was about to make her way over to a pair of Hufflepuffs, because they were supposed to be friendly right? When the Longbottom scion approached her with a tentative smile,

"Hey I'm Neville, would you like to join Ginny and I to practice?" He asked kindly and Eleanora smiled at him gratefully, maybe there was hope of being accepted after all. That hope was quickly extinguished however, when she saw the furious look on the face of the girl that she assumed was 'Ginny'. Neville must have seen it too because he faltered in his step and nearly crashed into Eleanora who had fallen into step beside him.

"Neville what are you doing? I thought you agreed to practice with me?" The redhead asked sweetly, although the look on her face rather contradicted the tone of her voice Eleanora thought privately. Neville must have thought so too because he answered cautiously,

"Uh well, yes I did…but I thought that, uh, since Eleanora here didn't have a partner…that maybe she could join us?" he spluttered, his answer sounding more questioning than explanatory. Ginny looked the other girl up and down, a slight sneer marring her otherwise pretty features.

"Well I don't feel comfortable practicing with a snake, she'll have to find someone else." She said decisively, looking at Eleanora with an expression that practically dared her to say something. Well, Eleanora had never been one to back down from a challenge, and she was about to let rip on the stuck-up redhead when Hermione suddenly materialised between the two girls.

"Ginny, go practise with Ron. I'll practice with Neville and Eleanora." She said in a no-nonsense tone, raising her eyebrow when Ginny looked ready to argue. With a huff the redhead stalked her way over to her brother and Hermione gave a small, somewhat nervous smile to her two partners.

"Let's do this, shall we?" She said, taking up a defensive stance to which Neville and Eleanora quickly copied.

"Thank you." Eleanora said to the girl quietly, when she was sure that everyone else had stopped watching the little spectacle that had just occurred. Although it rankled at her sensibilities to be thanking someone for standing up for her, something that she could do quite well herself thank you very much, she brought to mind the important lessons that she had learned at her grandmother's knee.

Her grandmother had taught her a great many things, and although she had discarded the more unsavoury of those lessons since the woman's death, three she had committed to memory because of their wisdom and their importance;

-Connections and Blood will only get you so far, for power will always be the true equaliser.

-Acknowledge your debts and repay them swiftly, an unpaid debt is as dangerous as an untamed dragon.

-Control who sees your anger, emotions give your enemies power and a true Black would put no such tools into their enemy's hands.

And all right, maybe she _could_ improve on the 'keeping her anger in check' one, but the debt one was incredibly important, because an unrecognised debt was a very dangerous thing that could easily be used against you. Eleanora always made it a point to recognise each and every debt that she owed and pay it off a promptly as possible, and now she owed Hermione Granger of all people.

. . .

After explaining how to preform the stunning spell and pointing out the provided cushions, Harry started to slowly circle the pairs and monitor their progress, making his way passed Eleanora's group more times than what was strictly necessary. He was impressed by her, she was holding her own quite well against Neville and Hermione, even managing to gently correct Neville's pronunciation a few moments before Hermione could.

However the tense feeling in the room had yet to ease, and Harry had seen the other pairs continue to cast suspicious glances at the Slytherin girl, as if waiting for her to do something to confirm their belief that her admittance was a mistake. If Eleanora was aware of the tension in the room she did an excellent job of hiding it, Harry however struggled to hide his disappointment in the people he thought of as his friends.

The chatter in the room had begun to increase and Harry knew that it was time for them to switch up partners, something he had been dreading since the beginning of the lesson. He just hoped that the goodwill and trust that Neville and Hermione extended to Eleanora would inspire at least one other person to do the same thing.

"Okay guys, I think its time to switch partners and start to practice shielding as well as stunning…" Harry announced and began to explain how the shield charm worked as people began to move around the room to find a new partner. Neville and Hermione departed with a small smile to partner up with Susan Bones and Ron Weasley respectively, Eleanora took a calming breath before looking around the room whilst trying to calm the nervous butterflies in her stomach.

She had decided to try her luck on the other side of the room and was making a vague path towards Dean Thomas and Alicia Spinnet when, out of nowhere, a pair of identical redheads appeared suddenly in front of her and corralled her into their group.

"Hi! You must be the new girl."

"I'm Fred, this is George…"

"We noticed you didn't have a partner…"

"And being the model citizens that we are…"

"We decided to make you feel welcome!"

They spoke quickly and seemed to finish each other's thought which Eleanora found… disconcerting.

But they had volunteered to practice with her, something no one else had done, so she followed them over to their corner of the room and introduced herself.

"I'm Eleanora by the way." She said smiling, sticking out her hand to shake, her smile faltered slightly when neither boy moved to take her offered hand but instead scrutinised her closely.

"Oh, we know."

"We also know you're a Slytherin."

"Which we don't particularly care about because Harry trusts you…"

"And that's good enough for us."

"But a word of warning…"

"Hurt him or any of our friends here…"

"And we promise to make the rest of your Hogwarts years miserable."

They finished together ominously.

Eleanora looked between the two boys, looking for any trace of insincerity or jest, but she found none, they were quite serious.

She found it rather touching really, how devoted everyone here was to Harry and his cause, it was that more than the actual threat that had Eleanora agreeing with a sharp nod and an uttered,

"Understood."

. . .

Harry felt a sinking dread as the Weasley twins manoeuvred Eleanora into their group, given their past history with Slytherins he was more than a little bit worried that they might gang up on her and humiliate her during the lesson.

Before everyone had arrived for the lesson Harry had vowed to himself that he wouldn't interfere, that Eleanora was a big girl who had wanted this opportunity and knew the reception that she would be walking into, she would have to either sink or swim;

whichever happened would be because of her and her alone. However, this new grouping with the Weasley twins was driving Harry to distraction, especially with the serious faces that the three of them wore, it was enough for Harry to abandon his earlier plan and make his way over to the group to make sure everything (Eleanora) was alright.

Before he could take more than two steps however, Eleanora nodded to something that Fred and George had said and all three broke out into grins, some understanding had been reached obviously.

Harry sighed in relief and then laughed in amazement when, quicker than anyone watching could comprehend, Eleanora whipped out her wand and stunned an unsuspecting Fred.

A beat of stunned silence followed before George erupted into raucous laughter.

"I like you Elliekins! I think we'll keep you." George declared as he rennervated his brother and helped him to his feet.

"Marvellous, absolutely marvellous you are!" Fred echoed his brother's approval when he had gotten to his feet. Eleanora grinned and brandished her wand at the two boys,

"Are we going to talk or are we going to fight boys?" She asked with a wicked smile, the twins stood to attention, drawing their own wands and began to practice.

'Yeah' Harry thought with a smile as he went back to circling the other groups,

'She's going to be just fine…'

. . .

By the end of the lesson Eleanora was very proud of herself, not only had she made two very useful allies in the Weasley twins, but she had also been one of the few who had managed to master the Shield charm by the end of the lesson.

Hermione handed out rather ingeniously charmed coins to inform the group when the next lesson was to take place, and Eleanora took hers reverently, very aware that she was privileged to be given such trust by the rest of the group. She lingered behind intentionally as everyone began to thank Harry for the lesson and leave in small groups, shooting her curious and suspicious looks as they passed. Eleanora took this as a sign that things were improving; at least some had let go of their suspicions and were now only curious about her.

Finally the only remaining occupants of the room were Eleanora and the golden trio, she wanted to speak to Harry but didn't fancy his friends overhearing the conversation, fortunately Harry seemed to have the same idea and spoke to his friends quietly, telling them to go ahead without him and he would meet them in their common room. They left, reluctantly, with Ron shooting a warning glare at the blonde girl as he passed her.

Standing a few feet apart from the messy-haired boy, Eleanora suddenly felt a thousand butterflies awaken in her stomach when he turned to face her, oh _goodness_ how Daphne would tease her if she were here right now. Harry was still looking at her and Eleanora realised with a jolt that he was waiting for her to say something,

"I just wanted to say thank you, you know, for giving me this chance…" She rushed out, desperate for something to fill the silence. Harry smiled sincerely at her,

"It was nothing, really! I'm just sorry about some of the others' behaviours." He interrupted, actually sounding disappointed which Eleanora found endearing and very sweet.

"It's fine, honestly I've dealt with worse." She replied honestly and they stood in awkward silence for a moment as neither one knew what to say to continue the conversation, eventually Harry cleared his throat and spoke softly,

"We should get going, it's nearly curfew…" he went to turn towards the door when a warm hand on his arm stopped him and he looked back into earnest grey eyes.

"Wait, I really need you to know how much I appreciate this…" she said softly, wanting to get across to him how important this opportunity was to her but struggling to find the right words,

"I appreciate that you believe in me, I know that it couldn't have been easy for you to convince everyone to let me come tonight. I don't know how you do it, but you seem to see something in me that so far no one else has seen, so…thank you Harry." Eleanora said with a soft laugh, looking up with a start to see exactly how close they were standing.

The fact that he smelt good, like _really_ good, was the only coherent thought currently running through Eleanora's teenage mind, he smelt like spring; fresh air and mowed grass and that smell that was just…clean, she couldn't really describe it…but she _really_ liked it. They were so close together Eleanora was sure she could count his eyelashes behind his glasses, or, had she been slightly taller, their lips would probably be touching…

 _Oh_ …

Instead of just thinking that last thought, her brain had apparently decided to act on it too, and she found herself kissing Harry Potter…

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 _ **AN**_ **:** Okay guys, I am literally about 4 hours away from stepping onto a plane to start my vacation but I thought that I would post this first! Thank you to the absolutely wonderful **XxDragon King DragneelxX** for commenting on the last chapter, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on what just happened and what is still to come! I'll be back in about 7 weeks and I'll hopefully have some new material to post for you guys to enjoy.

Unfortunately the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


	7. That First Kiss Feeling - Part One -

**_Chapter 7,_**

 ** _That First Kiss Feeling - Part One…_**

 _Oh!_

Well, he certainly hadn't been expecting that… One minute they had been talking, rather awkwardly searching for some common ground, then the next…

He was being kissed, his _first_ _kiss_ , actually.

Harry opened his eyes in a daze, not even noticing that he had closed them in the first place, and blinked owlishly.

 _She was gone!_

In the few moments it had taken him to get his brain to function properly once again, Eleanora had disappeared from sight.

His immediate thought was that she must have an invisibility cloak of her own, until his other senses kicked in and he noticed the open door and hurried footfall outside. Harry rushed to the door in time to see a streak of green and blonde whip around the far corner of the hallway and out of sight. Still dazed and reeling from what had just happened, Harry leant against the doorjamb and absentmindedly touched his fingers to his lips, where Eleanora's lips had been only seconds ago.

His emotions were a swirling mess around him, confusing him to the point where he wasn't exactly sure what it was he was feeling, let alone how he felt about Eleanora, and that kiss. All he really knew for certain was that her kiss had felt… nice, and he certainly wouldn't be opposed to it happening again.

* * *

Somewhere deep within the castle a bell tolled, signalling that curfew was now in place. Harry shook himself out of his daze in surprise, he had been standing watching the spot where Eleanora had disappeared far longer than he had realised. With a shake of his head Harry donned his invisibility cloak and hurriedly made his way towards Gryffindor tower, trying to push a certain blonde Slytherin out of his thoughts before he had to be interrogated by his best friends, because there was little doubt in his mind that he was walking towards the interrogation of a lifetime.

Rounding the final corner and seeing the coast clear, Harry removed and stored his cloak and gave the password - _Mugwump_ \- to the Fat Lady.

After clambering through the portrait hole Harry immediately spotted his worried friends sitting the comfy armchairs by the fire.

"Harry!" Hermione called out in relief when she spotted him, motioning to the empty seat between her and Ron.

"What did she want?"

"Did she try to get you to spill about the Order?"

"Are you alright?"

"She didn't try to attack you did she?!"

The bombardment of hushed questions engulfed him before he had even managed to take a seat, Harry felt his temper flare at the nature of the questions they were asking him. Throwing himself down on the chair with more force than was strictly necessary, Harry glared at his friends until their questions subsided.

"Eleanora just wanted to say thank you for letting her join tonights meeting, is that all right with you two?!" He asked exasperatedly, slumping down in the comfy seat.

"Well why wouldn't she say that in front of us then? Seems to me she had something else planned and lost her nerve!" Ron argued, not ready to let go of his theory about the Slytherin. Harry rolled his eyes,

"I dunno Ron, maybe it had something to do with the dirty looks you and everyone else were giving her during the _entire_ _meeting_!" Harry shot back, sick of his friend's judgements on a girl he'd spoken barely a handful of words to. Hermione, ever the peacekeeper, put her hands up placatingly

"It's alright Harry, there's no need to get defensive…"

"No it's not alright Hermione, I'm getting sick of this! If it were Hannah from Hufflepuff or Cho you guys wouldn't have had a problem with leaving us alone to talk, you know them just as well as you know Eleanora so why is there any difference?!" He huffed angrily, quickly abandoning any thoughts of telling them about the kiss that he and Eleanora had recently shared.

Harry realised; with a sad clarity, that they would not be able to accept the kiss, however innocent it was, at face value. They would search for a reason, for what she would gain from kissing him.

Because Merlin forbid she actually _fancy_ him!

And if he ever told them that he rather enjoyed the kiss, and wouldn't be averse to it happening again, they would immediately suspect that she had spelled him.

Harry may not be entirely sure about his feelings towards the blonde Slytherin, but he knew that regardless of what happened he wanted to be her friend, and in order for that to happen he needed to get his friends to open their minds about her, something that would be infinitely harder if he told them about the kiss.

"Look, she just wanted to say thank you for giving her a chance to join the club, and to say how much she learnt, that's all. Can we talk about something else please?" Harry sighed, making what he felt was a strategic retreat.

He may not have made any ground in getting his friends to accept Eleanora, but he didn't feel like he'd lost any either, so he would take the small victory for what it was. After all, Harry was sure that there were plenty more battles ahead before he could win this particular war.

Running his tongue along his lips absentmindedly, Harry thought back to the kiss as Ron dutifully changed the subject.

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 _ **AN:**_ I'm back! A huge thank you to everyone who wished me a pleasant vacation it was amazing and very very tiring! I got the chance to visit Disney World as well as the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in both Florida _and_ California so I'm feeling on top of the world! Special shout out to; **Michand** , **Ollivander7** , **XxDragon King DragneelxX** , **bunyx** , **AnimeA55Kicker** , **Belle** **Literature** , **Richasa** , and **PrimeMegalodon** for reviewing on the last chapter, reviews mean a lot to me as they let me know that you all actually enjoy what I am putting out there! Sorry for the shortness of this chapter but I just could not seem to get the tone the way that I wanted it. However do not fear, part two will be up hopefully by the end of the week assuming that real life does not decide to interfere…

To the best of my knowledge, the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


	8. That First Kiss Feeling - Part Two -

_**Chapter 8,**_

 _ **That First Kiss Feeling - Part Two…**_

 _Oh!_

Oh _no_ ,

Oh no no no no no, this isn't happening, this can't be happening!

Eleanora stepped back quickly in shock and horror, she just kissed Harry Potter.

She. Had. Just. Kissed. Harry. Potter!

The boy in question still had his eyes shut in the few moments her mental breakdown had occurred and, before he could open them and begin to yell at her, Eleanora did the only thing that her Slytherin mind deemed sensible in the situation.

She ran.

She ran faster than she ever had in her entire life, not caring how noisy she was being or who might see her, down all seven floors and then down again to the dungeons, only pausing to wheeze out the password to open the common room door.

Thankful for the late hour, as there was no one in the common room to see the state she was in, Eleanora trudged wearily up the stairs into her dormitory, threw herself onto her bed and promptly began to scream into her pillow.

Daphne watched in amusement for a few minutes before slipping silently out of her own bed and sliding under the covers of Eleanora's, prodding and poking the girl in question until she removed her face from the pillow and started preparing for bed, it was a far more subdued blonde who exited the bathroom 15 minutes later and slid under the covers next to her best friend.

They lay side by side for a few moments in silence, until Daphne could not stand it anymore and snatched Eleanora's wand from the bedside table and cast a privacy charm over the bed.

"Tell. Me. _Everything_." She demanded, setting down the wand and flopping onto her side. Eleanora copied her and sighed,

"Well…" She began, and proceeded to tell her about the events of her first D.A lesson; about Neville's kindness and Ginny's outburst, about her introduction to the Weasley twins, and their warning. What they had worked on and how she was one of the few that had master the spell by the end of the night.

She surmised that, although it had been an awkward beginning, with everyone a little wary of her, she felt that she had made impressive progress in getting people to see her as more than just a Slytherin.

Okay, so she'd told her _almost_ everything.

Something Daphne, a fellow Slytherin, picked up on instantly and looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow and an infuriatingly knowing smirk.

"And your fictional boyfriend? How was the ever-dreamy Harry Potter this fine night? Spill girl I need details!" She teased, referring back to the crush Eleanora had developed on Harry shortly after starting Third year that had never fully gone away. Eleanora's cheeks flushed pink in remembrance of what had just occurred only minutes ago, she punched her friend on the shoulder that she could reach but couldn't stop the smile that spread to her face as she thought back on the lesson she'd just attended.

"He was very sweet, making sure that I knew a few people, and he is such a great teacher! He was so encouraging, and knew how to explain thing in a way that was easy to understand you know. And then after class he was so nice making sure that I didn't feel left out by the others…" Eleanora's gushing trailed off as she got to the portion of the night that she _knew_ she had to tell Daphne about, if only for the fact that the girl had a sixth sense for smelling out secrets, but Eleanora knew that she would turn it into a huge deal.

In a move that would probably be considered slightly childish, so sue her she _was_ a child, Eleanora flopped onto her stomach and buried her face in the pillow and mumbled;

"…And I may have kissed him…"

Daphne's squeal very nearly woke up the entire dorm, even with the privacy charm in place and Eleanora silently cursed the brunette's bat-like hearing, and for possibly ruining her own.

In a move that was more unexpected than it probably should have been, Eleanora felt a sudden heavy weight on her back and what felt like a thousand little fingers poking her for details, she pushed Daphne off of her, only smirking slightly when the other girl fell out of the bed and onto the floor. Daphne quickly jumped up and got back in bed, looking expectantly at Eleanora.

"So…how was it?" she asked, a silly smile on her face. Eleanora smiled too, well at least until she actually remembered how she had reacted to the kiss, a kiss she had initiated!

"Oh gods Daph, it was _awful_! I'll never be able to look him in the eye again…I'll have to switch schools!" She moaned dramatically, rolling over onto her back in time to hear Daphne gasp in shock.

"Oh my god what _happened_?! Did he have bad breath? Was he a slobberer? Did he get handsy with you, cause 'Golden Boy' or not I'll curse him into next week if he got overly handsy with you!" Daphne started out jokingly, but her threat was deadly serious, and it made Eleanora feel a little bit better to hear her best friend defend her honour. She laughed as she replied,

"No! It wasn't anything like that I swear, it was really too quick to notice anything, well except that he smelt good, like _really_ good…"

"So…what was the problem?" Daphne interrupted, not seeing the problem, her best friend had just kissed the boy she had been crushing on for years, surely this was cause for celebration?

"The problem is that I completely lost my sanity and kissed him! And you know what's worse, I ran away! Oh god he must think me a freak! I've put my foot in it now, he'll never let me back into the club, why would he? Who want's to teach a crazy person defence?" She sat up and was close to hyperventilating with all the worry that was running through her, she was rambling and she knew it, but she didn't know how to stop herself until she uttered the one thought that was the source of all her despair,

"The worst part is that I'll never get a proper kiss from him, because why would Harry Potter, the epitome of Gryffindor and all that is good in the world, want to be with an evil Slytherin like me…" She finished dejectedly, her eyes watery but determined to not cry over her own stupid mistake.

Daphne saw red and hit her best friend, rather hard, on the back of the head. As Eleanora glared and rubbed her sore head Daphne glared right back.

"Okay. You need to Gryffindor-up girly, right now and listen to me! You are a good, no, _great_ person that someone like Harry Potter should be begging to date. You are the furthest thing from evil that I have ever met, I mean you fold your _underwear_ sweetie, and ever since you were sorted into Slytherin you have been a beacon of light in this stupid house! Everyone knows it." Daphne declared fiercely, needing Eleanora to see how important she was in this house and how great she truly was.

Before Eleanora was brave enough to stand up for herself and what she believed in, all the Slytherins who opposed the Dark Lord either suffered in silence and followed along with ideals they didn't believe in, or they stood up for their beliefs and were swiftly and severely dealt with.

But Eleanora was different, she was special, she stood up for herself and her beliefs and dared anyone to try and tell her that she was wrong. She had earned the respect of the older Slytherin and the admiration of the younger ones, who now saw a different path that they could follow. Of course there were those who believed she was wrong and fought her and her ideals, but Eleanora never once backed down.

It seemed to Daphne that the only thing that all Slytherins actually agree on, is that this private inter-house war should be exactly that, private. They already get so much hate from the other houses, if they ever saw how divided Slytherins really were, they would tear them apart. The other three houses should see Slytherin House as a cohesive family, no weakness should be shown under any circumstances. It was practically the house motto.

Eleanora mumbled a sleepy thank you, breaking Daphne out of her musings, as they both snuggled under the quilt.

"That's what family's for, we lift each other up…" Daphne mumbled, equally sleepy. As they were about to drift off to sleep Daphne remembered what she had been waiting up to tell Eleanora in the first place,

"Oh, I've found a place. It an unused classroom not far from the common room, I think it'll be big enough for you to teach us in…"

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 _ **AN**_ **:** Sorry about the lateness of this chapter, and sorry for always saying sorry! Haha, anyways, this chapter is a little bit longer than the previous one, and the following chapter is even longer! I am listening to the comments and suggestions given, promise! It's just that sometimes my muse and I get into arguments on where a chapter should end, and she usually ends up winning :/ A big thank you to everyone who has stuck with me so far and to **Darth-Vulturnus** and **Richasa** for commenting on the last chapter despite it's length!

It is sad but true fact, that the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


	9. Potions and Conversations

_**Chapter 9,**_

 _ **Potions and Conversations…**_

Wednesday was always Eleanora's least favourite day of the week, but waking up in the morning after _that_ night and realising that she had Potions with Gryffindor immediately after breakfast, she felt she had even more reason to hate it than usual.

Rolling over she buried her head into her pillow and did her level best to ignore her fellow dorm-mates as they got ready for the day. She heard them as they exited and silence fell around the room like a blanket, however Eleanora felt as though she wasn't alone in the room.

Sure enough, when she dared to crack open an eye, Daphne stood silently above her with a distinctly unimpressed expression on her face.

"Hi?" Eleanora mumbled, trying to keep her voice innocent and light, Daphne arched one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows,

"Hi. Wanna tell me why you're still in bed? You're usually the first one up and out of here during the week." Daphne asked, knowing full well what the blonde was trying to pull off, but wanting to see how far she would actually try and take this charade.

"I'm…Sick?" Eleanora tried, even managing a small pathetic cough to try and convince her friend.

"Well I'll go fetch Madame Pomfrey for you then shall I? She should still be at breakfast if I hurry." Daphne mentioned casually, without making any attempt to move from her place at the foot of Eleanora's bed. Eleanora grumbled to herself as she reluctantly slid out from under the covers, Daphne thought she may have heard various threats that involved herself and a pack of Nifflers…

"You're a crappy best friend Daphne Greengrass, why can't you just help me fake sick for the day!" The girl whined even as she grabbed her uniform from its hanger and trudged towards the bathroom.

"Depends on why you want to fake sick darling, I would gladly help if it meant that you would do something rebellious like sneak out of school. However, if you're just faking sick to get out of seeing a certain glasses-wearing Gryffindor then I'm afraid you're out of luck!" Daphne chirped cheerfully to the closed bathroom door as she began to assemble the supplies needed for the day.

Eleanora emerged from the bathroom fresh faced and glowering at her friend as she secured her half up hairstyle with an emerald barrette, but Daphne, who had many years of experience in reading Eleanora Black's expressions, could tell that her friend was nervous rather than angry.

Sure enough, her thoughts were confirmed a moment later when Eleanora turned away and whispered;

"I'm worried about running into him okay?! I'm scared of what I'll see in his eyes: anger, revulsion, disdain, or what if he just ignores me completely?" she admitted softly as she fiddled with the strap on her satchel to keep her hands from shaking.

And that right there was the problem.

Despite the front that she put on for the rest of the world, Eleanora was actually very insecure and fragile, just like anyone else, possibly more so when you consider the amount of negativity and criticism she'd received in her short life. Eleanora craved acceptance like an addict craved their vice.

Becoming a Slytherin had dashed much of the hope she'd had of being accepted by the Wizarding community at large. However, she could have been content with acceptance from the majority of Slytherin house, if she hadn't had to deal with those pesky morals that had somehow became deeply rooted in her conscience despite her upbringing.

Those same morals demanded much of her, that she not sit idly by and watch as good people suffer and wrongs go unpunished, that she must forsake the acceptance that she so desperately craved to stand up for what is right and just.

With Harry and the DA she had thought she had finally found a way to be accepted and validated in a way the her morals approved of, and then she had to go and sabotage herself before she even stood a chance!

This is why she was trying to avoid Harry Potter as much as possible, because as long as she didn't see him and the distrust in his eyes, she could pretend that nothing had happened and that she still stood a chance.

. . .

Daphne closed her eyes and silently counted to ten, fighting the (rather strong) urge to slap her best friend. Oh _Merlin_ it was only Wednesday! She really did not have the right disposition to be able to deal with this with the kind of love and attention Eleanora probably needed.

However, Eleanora had chosen Daphne to be her best friend _knowing_ Daphne's somewhat, prickly, nature. So Daphne would deal with her best friend's stupid insecurities in the best way that she knew how…

"GET A _GRIP_ GIRL! _Honestly_!" She yelled at the clearly startled blonde in front of her,

"You are Eleanora. Effing. Black. The _last_ of the Blacks, Lady of your House and the first female Head of a Noble and Most Ancient House in practically forever! You are beholden to _NO MAN_! Any bloke should consider himself _blessed_ to have your attention bestowed on him. If Harry sodding Potter didn't like being kissed by you, well then that's his problem because there is _clearly_ something wrong with him!"

Daphne punctuated each of her statements with a sharp poke to Eleanora's clavicle, as if trying to physically get her point across. Eleanora stood stock still and silent during her friends tirade, eyes wide in shock, unable to speak even if she could figure out what she wanted to say.

For a moment the room was completely silent, Daphne worried that she may have overstepped the line slightly and actually angered her best friend. For all her confidence issues Eleanora was never a truer Black than when she was angry. The moment passed as Eleanora's shoulders slumped and she sighed,

"I'm being rather silly, aren't I?" Eleanora asked forlornly, rubbing the spot where Daphne had attacked her, it was going to bruise later she was sure of it.

"You're not just being silly dear, you're being _irrational_." Daphne stated simply, Eleanora gasped in horror.

"You take that back!" She demanded with a glare,

"I will… When you prove me wrong." Daphne taunted with a smile. Eleanora grabbed her satchel and marched out of the room without another word, Daphne trailing happily behind her making a mental note to look into how hard it would be to brew a Confidence Draught, heaven knows Eleanora's going to need a batch or two if she continued to work closely with Harry. Eleanora Black working with Harry Potter, Daphne could already feel the future migraines she was going to get from listening to her talk about the messy-haired boy of her affections…

…Perhaps she'd better add the Pain Relief Potion to her list…and maybe a Calming Draught too.

…

Eleanora continued her determined march all the way to the entrance of the Great Hall, faltering only slightly to quickly scan the Gryffindor table for messy black hair. She found herself breathing a small sigh of relief when it became apparent that he had yet to come down, then scowled at her own reluctance; Daphne was right, she was a Black dammit! She would not cower at the thought of a teenage boy of all things!

Chin raised in defiance Eleanora swept gracefully into the Great Hall and sat down purposefully at the side of the Slytherin table that faced the Gryffindors.

She was totally _not_ afraid of Harry Potter, or his judgements of her.

Daphne settled down beside her and began to butter a slice of toast while Eleanora made herself a cup of tea to calm her nerves. They sit in comfortable silence while their year mates chatter around them, occasionally offering advice and opinions on particularly interesting topics, both waiting for a certain Gryffindor to walk through the double doors.

Soon enough Harry entered the hall flanked by his two closest friends and Eleanora unconsciously straightened in her seat. He lead them towards seats that faced the Slytherin table as his gaze flicked up and down the sea of green robes until he caught her gaze on him. Harry beamed brightly when he caught sight of her as he sat down and Eleanora began to smile back until she felt an embarrassing flush rise in her cheeks, she quickly ducked her head and avoided his gaze.

Harry took a bite out of a breakfast muffin, surprisingly pleased with Eleanora's reaction, that the kiss they had shared last night (the one that may or may not have kept him up for the better part of the night) had obviously meant something to her as it had to him. His smile brightened when he watched her blush deepen as her brunette friend glanced at him and then whispered something in her ear, perhaps there _could_ be something between them, someday. Maybe.

Hermione and Ron watch as their best friend smiled like a loon in the direction of the Slytherin table, specifically, at the blonde who had infiltrated their secret meeting the night before. The two shared a worried look before Ron shrugged and turned his attention to the most important meal of the day. Although they hadn't exactly had time to discuss it alone in any great length Hermione felt that she and Ron were on the same page; they were both worried about Harry getting too involved with a Slytherin, especially since they knew next to nothing about her.

However trying to tell Harry that he couldn't do something, in Hermione's experience, was a lot like trying to herd cats; completely useless and absolutely frustrating. He was quick to anger and unable to see reason over his strong (and noble) desire to help those less fortunate, Hermione had often jokingly called it his 'saving people complex' but now it was no longer a laughing matter.

Sure this girl may really need their help, but she could just as easily be gathering information to find Harry's weaknesses and sell him out.

Harry was one of Hermione's very few friends, her _best_ friend if she was being honest with herself, and she couldn't, wouldn't, stand by and watch as he could be potentially betrayed and hurt.

Hermione had come to the conclusion late last night that she would do what she does best; gather information and research, to help her get a better understanding of this girl and the threat she may or may not pose to Harry. Hermione would support her friend and encourage him to be cautious, and if he refused, as she expected he most likely would, then she would just have to be cautious enough for both of them.

Another who noticed the interaction between the Slytherin girl and the Gryffindor boy was one Draco Malfoy. He watched in confusion and mild disgust as Potter beamed over at the Slytherin table like the idiot he was, but what was more startling to him was the fact that Eleanora seemed thrilled by Potter's stare and was even blushing… a Black _blushing_! It was an affront to their shared ancestors!

Their interaction suggested that they somehow knew each other and Draco was curious to know how Potter would have come into contact with Eleanora. It wasn't as if a Slytherin would willingly lower themselves to acknowledge a Gryffindor. Fortunately Draco knew of the perfect opportunity to have his curiosity satisfied, and it was only minutes away.

Eleanora managed to keep her blush down long enough to finish the slice of toast she had been nibbling at since Harry had entered the Hall. She glanced at Daphne and, noticing that her friend had also finished eating, rose to make her way down to Potions with Daphne a half-step behind her.

Harry watched the two girls as they gracefully walked out of the Great Hall, he quickly wolfed down the remainder of his breakfast and made to follow them, ignoring Hermione's squawk of 'Harry, wait!' as she rushed to finish her meal and follow him, pulling a disgruntled Ron behind her.

The trio were quick to catch up to Daphne and Eleanora's leisurely pace, Harry accidentally brushing arms with the latter. However his, not very sincere, apology was interrupted by Draco Malfoy shoving him to the side to be in-between the couple.

"Black, I thought you'd know better than to lower yourself by associating with such scum. Imagine the shame on our house if anyone else were to see this!" The boy sneered, obviously intent on provoking a reaction from the Gryffindor trio, by the look on Weasley's face Eleanora reckoned he was close to succeeding.

Ron was struggling on what to do, on the one hand he wanted to tell off Malfoy for calling them scum, but on the other hand he didn't want to defend the Black girl or make her think that he wanted her around. Eventually Harry made the decision for them by shoving passed Malfoy without a word, not wanting Eleanora to get into trouble because of him and cursing himself for being stupid enough to try and approach her so publicly when she had specifically asked him to be discrete!

They quickly walk ahead of the Slytherin group into the Potion's classroom and took their seats on the traditionally Gryffindor side of the room, Harry and Ron sitting together with Hermione taking the empty seat next to Neville in front of them. Seconds pass, then minutes and Harry felt his dread growing as other students began to enter the classroom and Eleanora and her friend had yet to appear, despite being just behind them a few minutes ago. What could possibly be keeping them? Was she okay? What was Malfoy saying to her? Harry couldn't focus on the conversation Ron was trying to pull him into, his worry about what could possibly be happening right outside the door was too great. Just as he had decided that he'd had enough and it was time to make sure that Eleanora was okay, the girl in question finally made an appearance!

Eleanora swept into the room and took her seat on the Slytherin side of the dungeon room, in the same row as Hermione and Neville which gave Harry an excellent view of her profile from his vantage point. The Gryffindor boy sighed softly in relief that she seemed fine, and quickly resigned himself to the fact that he certainly wouldn't be getting anything productive done this lesson with a view like that. He was far too realistic to believe that Ron would cover his share of the work the way Hermione would.

Harry watched as Eleanora's friend entered the room along with Malfoy and his goons, she went to take the seat next to Eleanora but was beaten to it by the Slytherin boy. She stared at Malfoy, with what Harry thought was either shock or loathing, for a moment before pointedly clearing her throat.

"That's my seat Malfoy." She said coolly, 'yep definitely loathing then' Harry though to himself as he watched the bemusing interaction unfold. Malfoy didn't even bother to look up at the angry girl standing above him as he continued to retrieve his supplies from his bag.

"I didn't know it had your name on it Greengrass, there is a perfectly good seat behind you if you'd bothered to look." Draco said smugly, reclining back in his seat to smirk at the girl.

Their argument has drawn the attention of not only Harry's group but most of the other Gryffindors in the room, who watch fascinated as the girl, Greengrass, alternatively glares at Draco and shoots glances at Eleanora that Harry cannot decipher. Draco simply continues to smile smugly at her but Eleanora seems to be hardly paying attention. She was watching her two housemates with a distinctly disinterested look on her face, Harry may not have known the girl long but from what he gathered so far Eleanora had an opinion on everything! The fact that she wasn't sharing said opinion and instead hiding behind a mask of indifference worried Harry immensely.

Slowly more and more people began to notice the confrontation going on, something that Eleanora noticed as well. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, she ended whatever silent debate was going on between the three of them with a small nod to her still glowering brunette friend. The girl huffs in annoyance but backs down immediately, sulkily taking the seat directly behind Draco and glaring at the back of his head, resolutely ignoring Theodore Nott's attempts to get her attention.

It's at that moment when Professor Snape makes his entrance, instantly silencing any conversations. Rapping his wand harshly on the blackboard the instructions for the potion they will have to work on, the Draught of Peace, instantly appear and the lesson proceeds as normal…almost.

Harry can barely concentrate and twice Ron has to bodily stop him from adding the wrong ingredient and blowing up their workstation. Harry's sole attention is focused on the two blonde Slytherins sharing a desk on the other side of the classroom.

Draco is alternately leaning around Eleanora to glare angrily in his direction, and then furiously whispering in her ear as she single-handedly prepares their potion.

Eleanora is focused and steady as she prepares the Draught, looking for all the world as if she isn't even aware that Draco is whispering to her. She never responds in any way to whatever he is saying, but Harry can see her blank, disinterested facade starting to crack, and the mixture of fury and fright hidden beneath it definitely has him worried.

The bell tolls to signal the end of the lesson and Harry briefly looks down at their finished potion, it looks a lot like tar in colour and consistency, 'not at all like Neville and Hermione's shimmering silvery potion' Harry thought morosely as he bottled it up nonetheless. He looked over at Eleanora, trying to see if she was alright, and found that she was already being tugged out of the classroom by her friend.

Resolved to find her on her own later using the map, Harry begins to pack up the ingredients and his belongings, apologising to Ron for not being much help who shrugs it off. The four of them exit the classroom, Snape shutting the door sharply behind them, they are the last ones left in the corridor as they make their way back up towards the Charms floor.

As they turn the final corner before the Great Hall the four Gryffindors are greeted by a strange sight. Eleanora's friend, the angry brunette, was casually leaning against a classroom door with her book bag at her feet. She noticed them as they continued around the corner and seemed to be sizing Harry up as they approached her spot, finding whatever it was that she was looking for, the girl sighed and held his gaze as she inclined her head towards the closed door she was leaning against.

Without a single word uttered she then grabbed her book bag, which thumped against the door as she picked it up, and walked away from the group without glancing back.

Knowing instinctively just who was behind that door, Harry told his friends to go on without him, he wanted to make sure that Eleanora was all right and find out what Malfoy was saying to her. Ron immediately argued that it could be a trap and Hermione also seemed wary of leaving him alone, but Neville, who was quickly becoming Harry's favourite person, just gave him an encouraging smile before steering away an angry Ron and reluctant Hermione.

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 _ **AN**_ : So sorry for the lateness of this chapter, I am trying to get them out in a reasonable timeframe however life always seems to get in the way! Many thanks go to; **pasokditto** , **ThunderSphinx** , **thequeenofthepitch** , **Richasa** , **PrimeMegalodon** and **Nina** , your reviews help me immensely. Longest chapter of the series so far! I hope you enjoyed it!

Wish I may and wish I might, but the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


	10. Love Is An Open Door

**_Chapter 10,_**

 ** _Love Is An Open Door…_**

Harry shut the heavy door behind him and looked up to see Eleanora sitting primly on the teachers desk at the front of the classroom. She was smiling at him but even from this distance Harry could tell that it was forced, unlike the smile she had given him before their kiss.

His concern must have shown on his face because as he walked towards her, her fake smile dropped as she jumped off of the desk to meet him halfway.

"I'm fine. Really, I am. Draco's just being extra gitish today." She tries to reassure him, but Harry can't shake the image of her fear in Potions. Whatever Draco had said was more than enough to shake her, _her_ , the girl who willingly walked into a roomful of people who openly hated her without even a hint of trepidation.

Harry thought back to what Neville had said earlier, about not knowing what goes on in the Slytherin common room and all of a sudden the question that had been running through his mind all lesson spills out before he can stop himself.

"Is it dangerous for you to be associating with me? I don't want to get you into any more trouble." He asked anxiously. Eleanora could see plainly that his concern was genuine and she smiles again to reassure him, one that is only slightly less forced than the previous.

"There are a lot of dangers in our world Harry, you of all people know that. I'm not about to trade your company for an illusion of safety."

"You didn't answer my question though! I don't want to make more trouble for you, I want you to be safe! If staying away will make you safer…" He began to argue but Eleanora cut him off,

"I'll never be safe Harry! Regardless of whether I'm seen with you or not. Don't you see?! I don't believe the same things that _they_ do… and for that they believe my life is worthless, a waste of magic." She explains with a slightly hysterical laugh, fighting back her tears because she _would not cry dammit!_

To his everlasting credit, if Harry noticed her few tears he didn't comment on them, instead he focuses on her words, trying to make sense of them.

"Do you mean all of Slytherin, because…" He stops as Eleanora shakes her head,

"No, not all of them believe as blindly as Draco! In fact quite a number of them believe quite the opposite, like me." She explains gently and Harry immediately begins to think up plans,

"You need to bring them to the next DA meeting then! I mean it'll be a fight to get the others to agree, but they accepted you…sort of. And if these people are fighting against Voldemort then they should be learning defence like the rest of us!" He said determinedly. Eleanora beamed at him, both happy and proud at his immediate acceptance of anyone who was against the Dark Lord, and that he trusted her enough that her word was all he needed to believer her. But Harry didn't notice her affectionate gaze, too wrapped up in exactly how he was going to make this work, but was pulled out of his planning when Eleanora spoke,

"They wouldn't come Harry," He looked ready to argue so she continued on before he could interrupt,

"There's just too much distrust between Slytherin and the other houses! Even _if_ a few of them wanted to come they wouldn't, there's too much risk, it wouldn't be rational." She explained, then teasingly added;

"You know, not all of us can be Gryffindor brave."

He smiles a little at her joke but Eleanora can see that he is still visibly distressed by not being able to help her housemates. She smiles thinking about how this boy was far more than what their world deserved, far more than she deserved really…but she wasn't in Slytherin for nothing and she would greedily take as much of him as he would consent to give. Pulling herself from her own musings Eleanora decided to admit to a secret of her own that would hopefully ease his mind somewhat,

"Look, I um, well… Iwaskindaplanningonteachingthemmyself." She rushed out in one breath, red quickly colouring her cheeks. Harry cocked his head to the side, confusion evident on his face.

"Sorry, what?" He asked, not having understood a word of what she had said. Eleanora's blush deepened as she suddenly took a great interest in her shoelaces.

"I said, that I was kinda…maybe, already planning on teaching them what I learnt? Just a few who I knew would be trustworthy, I've got it planned for next week…" She mumbled awkwardly.

Harry stared at the girl in front of him in disbelief and awe, here was a girl who would put her own safety in jeopardy to protect not only the people she cared about, but also to protect a group of people she had no real attachment to just because it was the right thing to do, because they deserved to be protected and be given the chance to learn how to protect themselves.

Harry was instantly struck with how brave Eleanora really was; everything about her from their first interaction had been brave and selfless and he really wondered how she had ended up anywhere other than Gryffindor! She willingly put herself in danger because she wanted to build a better future for herself and others, she sought him out expecting to be rejected but trying anyway because it was the _right thing to do_. She was taking his lessons and teaching others herself because she knew they wouldn't listen to him but they still deserved to know how to defend themselves. She may not have battled Trolls, Basilisks, Dementors or Dragons, but Eleanora Black was the single most bravest person Harry knew, and he felt so very privileged in that moment that she had allowed him the opportunity to get to know her.

Struck with an emotion that he couldn't quite name, but he was quickly coming to associate with the blonde in front of him, Harry leaned forward and captured her lips with his before he could overthink and talk himself out of it.

This kiss was even better than their first one, in Harry's opinion. Eleanora smelled sweet, like some kind of flower that he couldn't quite name but knew instantly that it was now his favourite. Her lips were soft against his, slightly sticky with some kind of gloss as she kissed him back. Far quicker then he would have liked, the kiss was broken as Eleanora took a small step back to put some space between them.

Instantly doubt overwhelmed him as Harry took his eyes off of the beautiful girl in front of him and focused on his shoes, self-conscious and embarrassed for possibly overstepping the line and jeopardising their budding friendship. Eleanora could see the doubt on his face as he avoided looking at her, still a little dazed by the kiss, she took his hand in hers and laced their fingers together, causing Harry to look up at her with something akin to hope in his eyes.

She smiles reassuringly, nervous but excited and absolutely ready to tell him how she feels, consequences be dammed! When the warning bell rings out, announcing that classes will resume in five minutes. Eleanora pauses, a moment of internal deliberation where her studious side wins out, so she releases his hand with a squeeze, grabs her bag and slings it over her shoulder.

"Look, you're cute and this is fun but I'm not going to start ruining my perfect attendance record now!" She said in a rush, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to his cheek before swiftly exiting the classroom and running to her Herbology class. All the while thinking about her next meeting with Harry when she could tell him how she feels, and how Wednesday was her absolute _favourite_ day of the week!

. . .

Harry stands in that spot for a while, trying to comprehend the whirlwind that is Eleanora Black. He is dazed, confused and a little bit giddy as he comes to terms with how much he fancies this girl, and how much he wants to kiss her again. The second bell rings, indicating that class has now started, so Harry picks up his book bag that he didn't even remember dropping and wanders upstairs to his charms class, barley registering Professor Flitwick's cautioning as he takes his seat between Ron and Hermione.

 _'_ _Eleanora Black thinks I'm cute.'_

Harry spends the remainder of the lesson unable to concentrate and unable to wipe the dopey smile from his face. Completely oblivious to the looks his worried friends are sharing, concerned at the dazed and befuddled state their best friend is in.

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 ** _AN:_** Merry Christmas everyone! I know that most people will be busy socialising and whatnot but I though I would post this today in the event that you find some downtime. Much love to; **XxDragon King DragneelxX, mwinter1, , ArmyWife22079, pasokditto, Saissa, ArielSakura, Kia95,** and **KnowPein** for your beautiful reviews and all the support you give me. Also I am on twitter; WendyBirdxx if you would like to ask any questions or suggestions! I hope that you all have a happy holiday and wish you well into the New Year!

Alas, Santa didn't grant my wish so the HP universe still belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


	11. I've Got A Headache, And Déjà Vu…

_**Chapter Eleven,**_

 _ **I've Got A Headache, And Déjà Vu…**_

Hermione managed to wait until they were in sight of Gryffindor Tower before grabbing Harry by the tie and dragging him into an empty corridor, leaving Ron to quickly pick up Harry's fallen book bag and follow his friends.

"What the hell 'Mione!" Harry squawked indignantly, prying her hands off of his tie and loosening it so he could breathe. The girl in question stood in front of him with one hand on her hip and the other gripping her wand, looking at him as if he were a difficult question she was trying to puzzle out.

"You've been acting strange all lesson Harry! What's going on?" She demanded as Ron caught up to them and stood behind her, both literally and figuratively. Instantly defensive, Harry took half a step back and crossed his arms over his chest, resisting the urge to grab his wand. These were his friends, it wasn't as if they were about to _curse_ him!

"I've got no idea what you're talking about! There's nothing wrong with me!" He shot back instead, completely at a loss as to why his friends were looking at him as if he had started speaking parseltounge again. Not deterred by Harry's defensiveness in the slightest, Hermione pushed forward with her interrogation.

"Well, what happened after we left you in the corridor? Anything at all out of the ordinary?" She urged, watching him closely for a sign that something wasn't right. As Harry though back to his meeting with Eleanora in the classroom, how he had kissed her, he couldn't stop the redness colouring his cheeks. When he started to blush Hermione knew he was close to caving.

"Come on Harry just tell us! Please, we're worried about you!" She pleaded as Harry sighed in exasperation, running a hand through his hair.

"Look, we kissed alright! I fancy Eleanora Black. That's all! Seriously guys, nothing to worry about!" He finally admitted, beyond ready for this conversation to be over and for his embarrassment to fade. When he could finally look his friends in the eye after his outburst

"Oh Harry, I'm really sorry about this!" Hermione winced, taking a half-step away from him.

"Sorry about wha.."

"STUPEFY!" She cast as Harry's world went dark.

. . .

Harry wasn't actually sure of how long he was out for, only that last he remembered he was standing, and now he was lying on his back on the cold stone of the castle floor, and his head was absolutely pounding!

Sitting up slowly, rubbing the back of his head, he noticed his friends standing pretty much exactly where he last remembered them, except Hermione's face now looked far more guilty than suspicious.

"What the bloody hell was that for?!" Harry demanded, wincing at the loudness of his own voice as it doubled his already growing headache.

"Oh Harry I'm so sorry for stunning you! And I'm really sorry that I forgot to cushion your fall!" She apologised sincerely,

"I needed to check you for potions or spells that may have altered your mind, you've been acting so strange! This sudden interest in Eleanora after meeting her alone, and I'd read somewhere that you shouldn't tell a drugged person that you think they've been potioned. The book said that they might react negatively and try to attack you, so I had to knock you out to check. Again, I'm truly sorry Harry!" She explained, helping him to his feet and dusting off his robe.

Harry could understand her concern, after all he hadn't exactly been forthcoming to either of his friends about his growing feelings for Eleanora or the first kiss that they had shared. It was all a bit sudden, to go from not even knowing she existed three days ago, to having shared _two_ kisses in two days. Although he understood Hermione's concerns, Harry was still a bit unhappy that even after all this time, she still didn't trust him and his instincts.

This revelation didn't make him as angry as he thought it probably should, in fact, he was rather more angry that she had forgotten to cushion his fall and he now had a headache than her lack of faith in him.

So instead of continuing to argue about something he wasn't even angry about, he just sighed and gave a wry smile, asking her a questions that he already knew the answer to.

"So, did you actually find anything anything suspicious?" he asked the bushy-haired girl in front of him. Hermione shook her head,

"No, you've got nothing in your system that I can detect, which is a relief! Although the spell may not pick up on everything, the fact that you're not attacking me for even suggesting that you could have been spelled is a good sign though." She said in obvious relief. Ron however, did not look nearly as convinced.

"Spell or no spell, you shouldn't be getting involved with a Slytherin! It's bound to be trouble, you don't even know anything about her other than her bloody name!" Ron yelled, gesturing wildly as if it would get his point across clearer.

"We don't know anything about _any_ of the girls in our year Ron! Except for Hermione, because the houses just stick together! We've been over and over this and I'm sick of it! If you have any _legitimate_ concerns about Eleanora that don't include the fact that she is in Slytherin or that we hardly know her I'm all ears!" Harry countered, fuming at Ron's stubbornness and the fact that his head was _incredibly_ sore.

Ron opened his mouth, ready to argue, but Hermione stood in between the two, shaking her head at him, a signal to drop the subject. He almost didn't, wanting to push around her and tell his 'best mate' to get his head out of his…

Instead Ron turned in a huff and left them alone in the classroom.

A tense moment of silence followed the redhead's departure, before Hermione turned and wrapped her arms around Harry and squeezed him tight. Harry, feeling jarred at the sudden change in atmosphere, gingerly put his arms around the bushy-haired girl currently trying to suffocate him and gave her an unsure pat on the back.

"Hermione? Er, you alright?" He asked, unsure and totally not equipped to comfort an emotional witch. She sniffled slightly and pulled away to Harry's relief, a happy smile on her face.

"I'm just really proud of you is all! For the first time since I've known you you're actually putting yourself and your happiness first! Out of everyone I know you deserve happiness the most Harry, and if Eleanora makes you happy then that makes me happy. I just… be careful okay? Despite the way he went about it, Ron kind does have a point. I'm not saying that I believe that Eleanora is evil at all, but we really don't know anything about her. Just, try to keep your brain and emotion's seperate, yeah?" She rushed out, hugging him again.

Harry was grateful for her support, having at least one other person of his side (possibly two, because Neville had been very supportive of him from the start) made him feel like he wasn't crazy for feeling this way.

Maybe, just maybe, he had a shot with Eleanora Black.

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Much later that night, well after curfew, found the very witch of Harry Potter's affections wandering aimlessly through the darkened halls of Hogwarts Castle.

Eleanora had always been fond of walking at night for as long as she could remember, everything was different after dark. There was no sound, the air quiet and peaceful, the stillness had often tricked her into believing that she was the only person left in the world. It had always been easier, she found, for her to think at night, and tonight her thoughts were completely occupied with the messy haired Gryffindor that had kissed her only this morning.

So occupied, in fact, that she didn't even notice the other person sneaking though the hall until they had collided.

"Oh!" Eleanora exclaimed as she stumbled back from the unexpected blow. The person she had run into, a student not a teacher by their height thankfully, also stumbled back and dropped what they were holding, a…broomstick?

"Bloody hell, m'sorry I wasn't…oh." Ron Weasley's apology died on his lips as he saw clearly for the first time whom he had run into. Eleanora likewise cursed her bad luck, honestly of all the people she could have literally run into!

"Weasley." She acknowledged curtly, not trusting herself to say anything more.

"Black." He replied in the same tone.

They both stood there, silently and awkwardly, for a few moments more, before Eleanora decided to end this _really_ uncomfortable interaction. With a short bob of her head as a departing acknowledgement, she sidestepped the red-headed boy and continued on her predetermined route towards the kitchens.

"Black!" His call stopped her in her tracks and she turned to face him, hand discreetly moving towards the wand in her robe pocket.

"Yes?" She replied in a tone that was far more civil than she was currently feeling, something about this boy just… irked her! Although she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was about him, Eleanora knew that she and Ronald Weasley would never be 'braid each other's hair and gossip about boys' best friends.

"You'd better not run off to Umbridge and blab about the DA or else!" he threatened angrily, finally voicing to her the concern that had been festering inside of him since the moment she had entered the Room of Requirement.

Eleanora blinked in surprise and took a moment to digest the threat, torn between wanting to laugh at the childish attempt to frighten her, and being mildly insulted that he thought that it would work.

"Weasley, if I'd wanted to tattle on you to the toad I would have done so by now, are we done here? Good." Eleanora put on her best Black drawl, the one that most effectively conveyed 'I am tired of your very existence' and turned once again to leave the red head that was fuming behind her.

"I know what you really are!"

The world stopped turning for a moment as all the air seemingly evaporated from Eleanora's body. Her veins filled with ice as she processed what Ron Weasley had yelled at her, how could _he_ have found out? She had been so careful, not even Daphne knew truly the extent…

"What. Exactly. Do. You. Mean. By. That?" She ground out, reigning in the fear she felt at his words and showing only her annoyance with his presence.

"I'm Harry's best mate! It's my job to make sure he's not being taken advantage of, which is obviously what you're trying to do. Why else would a slimy Slytherin want to get close to a Gryffindor? You might be fooling everyone else Black, but not me alright?! I'm watching you, waiting for you to slip up and show your slimy true colours." Threatened Ron, ignoring her question completely.

The relief Eleanora felt was swiftly overshadowed by rage when she digested what the boy in front of her had said. She took a deep breath and bottled up her rage, she had already given this boy more power over her emotions than her Grandmother would ever consider reasonable, and instead flashed him her sweetest, most patronising smile.

"Oh, well that's nice to know Weasley. Obviously you're just as bad at that as I hear you are at Quidditch." She said condescendingly, taking an educated guess as to why he was out so late with his broomstick. Her words were deadly sharp as they reached their mark and caused the desired effect, Ron's face had surpassed red and was turning an interesting shade of puce as he spluttered in indignation. Before he could do something foolish, like draw his wand and escalate this situation, Eleanora decided to bring a swift end to this confrontation.

Dropping her sweet act and stepping closer, Eleanora whispered menacingly;

"Look. I'm a part of Harry's life now, and I plan on making it a permanent thing…so you'd better get use to being second best sweetie."

Spinning on her heel for the third and final time, Eleanora flounced away, leaving a furious and dumbstruck Weasley behind her.

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 _ **AN:**_ The first month of 2018 is almost gone! What sorcery is this?! I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and stayed safe over the holiday period, I myself spent a great deal of this month planning out the back-half of this story and it now has an official ending! At least until I change my mine once again! This was originally two seperate chapters but they were both quite small so I though I would combine them and give you a bonus chapter, I hope it reads well! Let me know what you think and if I should do more of this in the future. All the love to; **thewinterking5** , **NataS666** , **mwinter1** , **KClown** , and **Lauren** **Saint** for your lovely reviews and well wishes over the holidays.

Negotiations have come to a disappointing end…the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


	12. Nothing Has Changed

_**Chapter Twelve,**_

 _ **Nothing Has Changed…**_

*Slight Course Language*

September faded into October, and October into November, as the D.A members grew in skill and in confidence, tucked away in their secret hideaway. Eleanora soaked up each and every lesson like a sponge and, to her delight, could see in herself a noticeable difference in her spell casting and accuracy.

During the secretive lessons a routine of sorts had developed; Eleanora and Neville would partner up first, and then she would move on to one or both of the Weasley twins when it came time to switch partners. She didn't mind this routine at all, finding herself comfortable with Neville's gentle determination, and finding the twins both hilariously fun and surprisingly challenging simultaneously.

Eleanora had found that two whole months of being almost constantly in her presence without anything terrible happening, had softened the group's opinion of her somewhat. She still wasn't exactly _welcome_ , but a lot of the outright hostility had gone, and people no longer skirted around her like she was infected with Dragon Pox or refused to meet her gaze when she glanced around the room.

Of course there were still _some_ people who refused to change…

 _Cough_ -Weasley's The Younger- _Cough_

But, no battle is ever completely successful. So Eleanora was happy with all she had achieved, but speaking of refusal to change…

Harry Potter.

It had been almost two months, 44 days, since their last kiss, and 43 day since they had spoken of anything remotely related to their feelings for each other.

Yes, she _had_ planned to tell him how much she cared about him… But she'd chickened out at the last minute.

So sue her, she was a Slytherin not a Gryffindor goddammit!

If anything, _he_ should be the brave one, confessing his love for her…if he did feel that way about her. Eleanora put a stop to that train of thought before it turned toxic.

She was sure, absolutely, confidently _sure_ that Harry Potter had feelings for her. Why he wasn't acting on them… well, perhaps she wasn't the only chicken when it came to talking about feelings?

Sure, they had talked about lots of other things, practically everything else that didn't allude to their maybe-kind-of relationship.

She had learnt that, despite his wealth, Harry still wore his fat cousin's hand-me-downs because he didn't have anyone to take him clothes shopping, that he preferred milk in his tea (a forgivable sin in her opinion only because of the sheepish smile he'd given her when he told her), and that he felt freest when he was up in the air playing Quidditch.

For his part, Harry had learnt that her best-friend's name was Daphne and that they became best friends through an argument they had on their first day, that only her close friends called her Nora ( _Oh_ , the smile he had given her when she said that he could call her Nora, she very nearly collapsed then and there!), and that she had little to no interest in Quidditch, except for the fact that she would always cheer for the Slytherin team to lose because they refused to allow girls on the team.

Recently they had gotten into the deeper stuff, Eleanora had taken to staying back while everyone else left to help Harry pack up, and to get to know him a little more

…and work up the courage to tell him how she felt…

She listened in awe and distress as he recounted ( _most of_ ) his adventures from his first four years of schooling, reconciling what he was telling her with the rumours she remembered from the time.

It was one thing to hear Pansy gossip in the girls dorm about how Draco had heard that Potter had fainted at the sight of the Dementors, it was a completely different feeling to hear Harry admit that he relived his parents dying moments whenever the horrid creatures were close.

He told her about the Chamber of Secrets, and promised to take her there sometime before they graduated, if they could ever get rid of Umbridge.

His tales were so extraordinary and fanciful, and yet Eleanora knew without a doubt that every word was the truth, it made her feel rather tame in comparison.

The only interesting thing she had ever done in her Hogwarts career (besides joining a secret, illegal, underground defence club… _obviously_ ) is that one time in Third Year when she had to sleep on the edge of the forbidden forest, she'd gone walking at dusk and missed curfew and the front doors had been locked. She thought it wasn't anything compared to his adventures, but Harry _had_ looked rather pale when she had shared that particular story with him.

After talking until well after curfew, Harry would sneak her back to her common-room under his invisibility cloak (was there anything this boy _couldn't_ do?!), making sure she was safely inside before returning to Gryffindor tower.

Tonight, Harry was saying goodbye to the last group to leave as Eleanora banished the cushions to the far side of the room and out of the way. When they were finally alone Harry turned to watch the girl of his affections for a moment before summoning up the courage to ask a question that had been lingering in his mind for a while now.

"Hey Nora, what's your family like?" the question was light, innocent, but Harry could see the effect it had and immediately regretted the words that had left his mouth. Eleanora had stopped in her task, a cushion flopping to the ground halfway to its destination, she tensed up noticeably and although her back was to him, Harry was sure that if he could see her face she would be making her ' _don't panic, don't panic, DON'T PANIC_ ' face.

She totally was.

"M'sorry, you don't have to answer that! I shouldn't have asked…" Harry stumbled across his words in his haste to get them out, to make her more comfortable. Eleanora shook her head slightly, and turned to face him, a small but genuine smile on her lips.

"It's okay, really. I don't mind…I, it's a little complicated is all." She said hesitantly, as if she weren't completely sure of herself and if she should be telling him this. Reading his mind the room shifted to become smaller, a cosy sitting-room with a couch and a fire, Eleanora blinked once in surprise but took a seat on the couch next to her.

She had learnt by now not to question what this room could do and how it worked, it only served to give her a headache.

Harry sat down beside her and, on impulse because she felt like it, she grabbed his hand and held it.

"Look, you have to promise me something…my life outside of Hogwarts, it's a secret, and it has to _stay_ a secret. You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, not even Ron and Hermione. Can I trust you?" The words were spoken softly but seriously, the gravity of the situation not lost on Harry. Eleanora was showing him a new level of trust, a level that he knew precious few would ever see. So he took a moment and responded just as seriously.

"Of course."

Taking a deep breath Eleanora prepared to reveal the first part of her secret, prepared to put her faith in the boy beside her.

"I live in an orphanage."

Whatever Harry was expecting, it really wasn't that. He voiced his confusion,

"O-okay, but why is that such a big secret?"

"Well, it's a long story…" She settled further into the comfy couch, choosing to stare into the fire rather then make eye contact with the boy beside her.

"After my father's imprisonment 14 years ago, my mother…well, it broke her, and she hadn't exactly been the sanest person to begin with. She began to believe that she could ' _see_ ' evil in me and, just after I turned three, she attempted to kill me. Lucky, my magic had just started to come in and I somehow rebounded the curse, so she ended up killing herself instead."

There was a cold, clinical detachment to her voice as Eleanora spoke about her mother's death. Harry wondered how much of that was hate towards her mother and how much was to cope with having to remember what happened to her.

"My mother didn't have any surviving family, so after her death I went to live with my paternal grandmother. She was a, uh _formidable_ woman, and I was quite scared of her for a good year and a half, but she was the first person to really show me my place in the world."

"You see, my father's family is quite old, one of the oldest families in magical Britain actually, and my grandmother was the Regent while my father, the current Head of House was in prison. This is where things get confusing and secretive…"

Harry thought things were rather confusing already to be honest, he had a mental list of words and terms to try and surreptitiously ask Hermione to explain without giving away Eleanora's secret.

"Because my father currently has no legitimate male heirs and _will_ never have any, I'll automatically become the Head of House upon my 17th birthday, but until I turn 17 I am required to have a Regent who has control over myself and my House. When I turned ten, grandmother's health started to deteriorate. We had both hoped that she could hang on until my 17th birthday to avoid all this mess, but it quickly became clear that that wouldn't be the case."

Eleanora was surprised to feel a single wet tear slip down her cheek as she spoke of her grandmother. Despite the harshness of her voice when correcting her granddaughter and the seldomness in which she gave praise, Eleanora knew without a doubt that the woman had loved her, in her own, stony-faced way. Harry could see the distress in his… in Nora's eyes, and began to rub his thumb across her knuckles in a comforting gesture.

"Upon her death I would be left with no immediate family, so then any family with a connection to my House could fight for control over me. This would've been nice, if they actually wanted me for me, but they only want me for control over my money, and over my votes on the Wizengamot."

"Grandmother contacted the St. Nonnatus Orphanage, it's a magical orphanage mostly used by wealthy Witches and Wizards to dump their illegitimate children, or children that don't show any magical promise. They agreed to take me in and keep my location a secret, after a hefty _'donation'_ of course. I hate it there so much, but I have to stay, the alternative is much worse."

There was unmistakable bitterness in her voice when talking about the orphanage that Harry longed to take away.

"In truth, not many people know that I even exist actually. I was born overseas, during a war, so there was never any of the usual celebrations that announce the birth of a Noble child. Most people think that my family seats in the Wizengamot are just vacant because there's a fight over who has the rights to them, I think it'll be a rather shocking surprise for them when I come of age. But some families _do_ know that I exist, the same ones that would have fought the hardest to gain control of me. So before her death my grandmother circulated the story that I had gone to live with my maternal grandparents in France, that way none of those families could try to claim that they had a more direct connection to me."

For the first time Eleanora tore her gaze away from the fire to look at Harry, he didn't look angry, or disgusted, or any of the other things she imagined he would be when she played out this conversation in her dreams. He looked…understanding, she wasn't sure if that comforted her or frightened her.

"When I arrived at Hogwarts in first year it was confirmation to our world that I even existed! Since then a lot of people, mostly other Slytherins, have tried to befriend me and tried to get information from me for their parents, its pretty easy to see through but I still have to be careful with what I say in case I accidentally reveal something I shouldn't."

"All this" She gestured vaguely at herself and at the story she had just revealed.

"Is why Draco doesn't like me, like, _at all_ , but he's forced to be civil and pretend that he does. His family, through his mother, would have been most likely to gain control over me after my grandmother's death, and if they had gained control over me? Most likely I'd be forced into an arranged marriage to one Lucius' business colleagues by now, and all my money would have been transferred into their vaults years ago never to be seen again."

As he heard that Eleanora could have been married to some old wizard, Harry unconsciously squeezed their joined hands tighter, it was as if he were trying to keep her close and away from some faceless stranger. He took a deep breath and tried to quell his irrational anger, _that_ was a future that was never going to happen if he had any say in it, he decided immediately. Eleanora, sensing his distress over that last piece of news, pulled his attention back to her to reassure him.

"But because they don't have control over me, they have to suck up to me just like everyone else in the hopes that I'll be sympathetic to them when I take control. Oh I know that old Lucy has spent years, and _thousands_ ofgalleons, trying to find where I live and my mother's family. But in 5½ years he's never come close! And in just over a year it won't matter any more!"

This had the desired effect of calming Harry down enough that he could take a mental step back and think about what Eleanora had revealed to him, and doing so caused the lingering suspicion to return to the forefront of his mind, the same suspicion that had caused him to ask about her family in the first place.

Although Harry believed he already knew the answer, given everything that she had just told him, he also knew that he needed Nora to confirm his belief before he could be sure.

"So…who is your father? What did he do that was so bad?"

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Eleanora froze at his question, she could literally felt her blood turn to ice.

He didn't know.

He didn't _know_.

 _HOW_ the _HELL_ did he not _KNOW_?!

She could feel herself hyperventilating as black spots appeared in her vision, she could hear Harry saying… _something_ , but it were as if he were trying to talk to her through water his words were garbled and didn't make sense.

She could feel him move closer and his hand was rubbing circles on her back as the garbled words continued but that just made things _worse worse worse_ , she needed him to get away, he _had_ to get away.

Trying to articulate anything at this point was hard, seeing as though she couldn't seem to catch her breath and only served to make him move closer and the garbled words to become more urgent, she tried pushing him with her hands. Didn't he understand he shouldn't be near her? Of course he didn't, he didn't _know_! If he _knew_ he would have left her in this room to _die_ , not try to help her.

Harry got the message that she was trying to convey, the garbled words stopped, the hand left her back and the space he had occupied beside her emptied.

It really only made things worse.

As black spots overtook her vision, Eleanora realised that maybe he had figured it out and had left her to die. Honestly it was all she deserved for what she must be putting him through.

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She awoke slowly to an anxious black haired boy hovering worriedly beside her.

"Please don't panic again." He said quickly as she took in her surroundings, they were still in the training room as the fireplace was still there, but the couch they had been talking on, that she was now laying on had morphed into a chaise lounge.

A fainting lounge, how appropriate.

Then she remembered why she had fainted, and looked up at Harry with worried eyes. Had he figured it out?

He didn't look angry, only worried, so probably not.

What would he think of her when he knew? He was going to hate her, she was sure.

Eleanora closed her eyes and gathered her courage, regardless of what he might think, Harry deserved to know the truth. And she deserved any reaction that came her way.

"Nora, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have pushed, are you okay? I can take you to the Hospital Wing if you're not feeling better!" He was rambling he knew, but she was silent and she had her eyes closed and what if something was seriously wrong with her?!

"Sirius Black. My father is Sirius Black." Eleanora cut him off abruptly, eyes still squeezed shut, but her voice was steady.

Harry stopped his rambling, shocked. I mean, he had strongly suspected that this was the case for a while to be honest. But it was another thing entirely to have it confirmed without a doubt. Why hadn't Sirius himself ever mentioned that he had a child Harry's age? It wasn't as if the conversation was that difficult to bring up!

Eleanora mistook his shocked silence for revulsion, something she felt was entirely reasonable in the situation, and was silently chastising herself for being so foolish as to believe that Harry Potter would have been remotely interested in her, knowing who her father was. The bastard had practically murdered his parents for Merlin's sake!

"Harry I'm so sorry! I-I thought that you knew! I thought most people knew, especially after Third Year! Look, I don't expect you'll want anything to do with me, I promise I won't bother you any more…it's really the least I can do! I won't come to anymore lessons with the DA. Harry, I'm just so, so sorry…" There were more than a few tears in her eyes as Eleanora made her apology and got up off of the lounge to make her way to the exit.

As she passes by him, her words catch up to a silent Harry. Using his instinctive Seeker reflexes he grabbed her arm to stop her leaving, spun her quickly and kissed her.

"I don't care who your father is." Are the only words he manages to get out, the kiss leaving them both a little dazed and unsteady.

Eleanora places her hands on his biceps in an attempt to stabilise herself, looking into his eyes she can see that Harry is sincere in his words, yet she still couldn't quite believe him.

"How can you even stand to look at me? My father's a monster." He could hear the sadness in her voice and see it plainly on her beautiful face. Harry felt immensely guilty, and thought about telling her of Sirius' innocence then and there, the only thing that was stopping him was Sirius himself. Why hadn't he ever mentioned Eleanora? Harry needed some time to think, and he had some questions that just couldn't be answered by the girl in his arms.

So instead of answering her question, Harry led her to the door and his awaiting invisibility cloak. While they always walk in silence under the invisibility cloak, tonight felt different. Whereas on previous nights, the silence had always felt comfortable, and having to walk so close to his crush was…exciting, tonight the silence hung thick in the air and the closeness felt uncomfortable at best. The worst part in Harry's opinion, was that he really didn't have any idea how to fix it!

They reached the entrance of her common-room in record time, neither one wanting to linger as they usually did in order to spend just a few minutes more in the other's company. Breaking their customary silence for the first time, Eleanora stepped out from under the cloak.

"Harry, I really wouldn't blame you if you wanted nothing more to do with me…" Harry took off the cloak entirely to step closer to the blonde and cut her off.

"Nora, I was just a bit shocked, that's _all_. Nothing has changed between us, nothing could _ever_ change my feelings for you I promise!" He declared, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek before donning his invisibility cloak to make his way up to Gryffindor Tower.

Upon entering the almost completely deserted common-room, Harry saw his bushy-haired friend at a table by the fire doing her favourite pastime, homework. Another quick glance around showed that their other friend had obviously retired to bed, as was usual whenever Harry chose to stay back with Eleanora.

Harry sat down in the armchair next to his best friend and patiently waited for her to finish writing her sentence. Hermione capped her inkwell and tapped her essay with her wand to dry it before leaning back in her chair,

"So, did you finally ask her out?" She questioned while stretching, she had been urging Harry (secretly, whenever Ron was out of earshot) to ask Eleanora on a proper date.

"Well, I had planned to, but them I asked her about her family and she told me that Sirius was her father!" He stated bluntly, making sure to whisper the last part even though he was sure they were the last ones left up. Hermione's eyes widened in obvious surprise.

"Oh my! I hadn't even considered Sirius as a possibility! Although I _had_ thought that they may have been related, distantly…" Hermione trailed off distractedly as her mind started working overtime with various thoughts and ideas and their implications. Harry, noticing that his friend was off in her own world for the time being, borrowed a spare sheet of parchment and a quill set from her supplies on the table, and set about writing to his godfather.

One hour and no less then ten half-finished letters scratched out and discarded into the fire, Harry Potter gave up the endeavour as useless. He just couldn't put into words all the questions that were swimming laps in his mind, at least, he couldn't put them down in a way that would make any kind of sense!

Tiding up the supplies of the witch who had left for bed 20 minutes ago, Harry resolved to just ask the man in person when Christmas came around.

.

.

.

.

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 _ **AN:**_ And there we have it! Harry and Hermione have finally caught on to what we've known all along! Took them long enough! Super sorry for the delay on this chapter, I've just finished my 1st placement which means I am 1/3 of the way to becoming a teacher! It was very intense going from casual work to a 7am-4pm workday every day, and I was a little intimidated at first standing up in front of a class having to fake confidence and look like I have an idea of what I'm doing! However, now that it's over, I'm actually really sad…like, I got teary this morning because I wasn't going to be there. Those little crazy 5 year olds have become my babies and I don't know how I'll cope with not seeing them grow every day! _Great, now I'm getting teary again!_ Don't mind me, I'm a bit of a wreck at the moment! I haven't even started writing the next chapter yet so I have no idea when it will be out, I'm hoping to have it out in April, it's got a Quidditch scene so I'll have to try and write some commentary, eep! Any advice would be warmly welcomed on that front! Thank you to **mwinter1** , **TheWinterKing** and **KClown** for their lovely reviews, but I have to give a big big BIG thank you to **DocJackson** for loving this story soo much, they created a FF account just to follow it! Reading your reviews gave me the best laugh I've had in ages, and in _public_ too! The people around thought I was quite mad I'm sure! So, thank you!

My babies don't know who Harry Potter is, but even they know that the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


	13. Go! Go! Gryffindor!

_**Chapter Thirteen,**_

 _ **Go! Go! Gryffindor!…**_

Harry felt confident in his decision to wait to talk to Sirius at the holiday break. After all, even if he could find a way to express his thoughts and questions into a coherent letter, he doubted very much that anything his godfather sent back would answer half of what was swirling around his mind. Harry felt significantly less confident about having to keep his knowledge of Sirius' innocence to himself though. Nora had gone all her life believing that her father was a monster, something that Harry could tell weighed heavily on her. Finding out that he was innocent all along would surely remove some of that burden? But on the other hand, Sirius had (to the best of Harry's knowledge) purposely hidden the fact that he had a daughter, one that was the same age as Harry. Why would he do that without a very good reason? He had been here at Hogwarts in Third Year, and hadn't sought her out to tell her the truth, maybe there was something Harry was missing?

No matter which way you looked at it, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. In the beginning, Harry had worried that it would affect their budding relationship, however, if anything, it had brought them closer together! With Harry going out of his way to make sure that Nora knew that he didn't care about her heritage, and for her part Nora was quite content to pretend that the whole conversation had never even occurred.

They were still tiptoeing around their 'relationship', much to Harry's ever growing frustration. It wasn't like he was confused about his feelings, he fancied Eleanora, a _lot_! And he would bet his Firebolt that she felt the same way, that wasn't the issue. The _issue_ _was_ that every time he even thought about bringing up his feelings for her, or their previous kisses, or that fact that he was pretty sure that she could ask the world of him and he'd find a way to give it to her…he would choke. Sometimes literally! His tongue would double in size as his throat seemed to shrink, and he had to use his very limited concentration to not splutter and make a fool of himself.

Harry had come to the very reasonable and logical conclusion that, to put it very simply… he was allergic to feelings.

His, already difficult situation was hardly helped by the ridiculous prejudices that dominated every aspect of Hogwarts, even their small club. You see, the first quidditch match of the year between Gryffindor and Slytherin was fast approaching, and each day that drew them closer to the match also intensified the already heightened rivalries of Slytherin versus… well the rest of the school.

Harry had thought that Eleanora's first meeting had been intense, but that was like feeding a browntruckle compared to the atmosphere in the last DA lesson. Everyone had reverted back to the default of being tense and wary of the resident Slytherin in the group, Seamus even had the gall to accuse her of trying to distract Harry!

He hotly suggested that she was trying to throw Harry off his game to give her team a better shot of winning, and that she was trying to gather information to give to the Slytherin team to beat Gryffindor… and this outburst occurred all because she had asked Harry how he was feeling! Of course Eleanora denied any and all accusations with grace, dignity and only a small amount of contempt (which Harry privately thought was a minor miracle really), but it did nothing to abate the suspicions of the others. Even the Weasley twins had given her a wide berth last lesson, that had hurt her far more than any words someone could throw at her.

. . .

However, after some extensive thought and a rather unfortunate incident in the Slytherin common room after dinner tonight, Eleanora had come to the decision to take action and stop this nonsense before it escalated any further.

Storming into the DA classroom she was a woman on a mission, letting the door slam behind her as she scanned the room, eyes blazing and entire demeanour screaming; _mess with me right now and you forfeit your right to live_. She quickly spotted her prey and began her march, people parting like the red sea to avoid her wrath, towards the Weasley twins who currently bore a strong resemblance to deer caught in headlights.

"Listen carefully both of you, I am sick of being treated like I have some sort of disease. I was under the assumption that we were something like friends and I refuse to let this ridiculousness go on any further! I had _planned_ on staying out of all this Quidditch rubbish because I honestly don't give a damn, but a very recent turn of events has made it… beneficial to change my mind. The Slytherin Quidditch team has replaced their Beaters with Crabbe and Goyle from my year, and if you could find a legal way to pummel them relentlessly, I would consider it a personal favour." She finished her rant with a huff of air that seemed to expel her remaining anger.

And although she hadn't raised her voice once during this confrontation, the authority in which she spoke made everyone stop and listen.

After a small delay as everyone around them processed this new information and new demeanour of the previously reserved Slytherin girl, the twins grimaced simultaneously as they thought about their recent actions.

"We're sorry,"

"We really are friends-"

"And thanks for the tip…"

"…But why do you want _them_ pummelled in particular?"

They asked curiously. Eleanora smiled her best, what she liked to call, Slytherin smile. It was really just a curl of her lips and a look in her eyes that gave the impression that she was plotting something sinister, giving her an overall appearance of looking dangerous and frightening. It was something she took a lot of pride in, occasionally. It certainly had the desired effect as she uttered the next words.

"Oh, just for the usual, vindictive reasons…"

Spinning on her heel to face Harry she asked in her sweetest voice,

"Are we ready to start?"

. . .

And that was that really. Everyone went back to normal around Eleanora, her betrayal of her own house in something a serious as Quidditch enough for them to finally understand that she was on their side after all.

Eleanora practically skipped back to her common room later that night, having left alongside everyone else instead of staying back with Harry, she may be in the good books of the DA for the moment but she didn't want to push her luck.

She felt a little bad at leaving him, she knew Harry was particularly stressed about this upcoming game, with Weasley being a shoddy and unpredictable Keeper at best, and he could have probably used a distraction. But there were things that required her attention back in the Slytherin common room that she couldn't talk to Harry about, not yet anyway, besides it was unhealthy to get so worked up over a silly game!

Composing herself and replacing the genuine smile on her face with one that conveyed her supposed superiority, Eleanora entered her common room. She could feel the attention on her as she stepped through the portrait hole, even though there wasn't a single eye on her. Ignoring the attention she made a casual glance around the room, taking note of Draco and a few others from the quidditch team huddled together, and spotting Daphne in a chair by the fire.

"How's Trace?" Eleanora asked quietly as she took the seat next to her friend and made sure no-one was in earshot of their conversation.

"Still sulking, she won't even let me remove the curse stupid girl, tough luck to her if she asks me to do it later." Daphne replied flippantly, seemingly unconcerned as she carefully painted her nails in deep emerald.

"And the atmosphere?" Although she could sense herself the tension, and see how everyone was a bit too stiff in their positions and a bit too quiet in their conversations. Daphne had always had an _ability_ to feel the environment and understand the mood of a room on a deeper level, although if you were ever to utter the word 'seer' in her presence you would be liable to lose a limb.

"Absolutely crackling. I mean it's just poor form to curse one of your own, everyone knows that. We'll gain from this for sure." She answered casually as she capped the lid of her varnish and took out her wand to dry her fingers.

"Draco and the others?" Eleanora asked, trying to glance in their direction without making it obvious that she was looking. They were still huddled together and laughing, the only people in the common room seemingly unaffected by the tension, or just didn't care.

"They don't seem concerned at all, the idiots.I mean they're definitely plotting something, but I don't think it's a campaign against us." Daphne said with a sneer aimed in their direction.

"Yeah, well I think we should campaign ourselves, this… whatever, between Harry and I has to come out sooner rather than later." Eleanora decided, looking to her best friend for approval. Daphne nodded with a sly smile,

"I agree, people already notice that you leave the common room a lot on your own, better they think you're snogging Potter than dig up the truth."

"Daph!" Eleanora hadn't meant to raise her voice so high and chastised herself internally for her blunder. Knowing that anything else they said would be listened to, both girls simultaneously rose from their seats and walked into their dormitories.

"Don't look so scandalised dear, I know it's what you'd rather be doing! And I think it'll help us, if people think you've got Dumbledore's ' _Chosen One'_ in your pocket they'll be more willing to come around to our way of thinking." Daphne said reasonably once they were out of earshot from the common room. Eleanora rolled her eyes and went over to Tracey's bed to see how the other girl was feeling, refusing to say anymore on the subject…mostly because she couldn't argue with anything Daphne had said.

. . .

The day of the Gryffindor - Slytherin quidditch match dawned bright and cold in early December and Eleanora woke with a feeling of utter dread and despair. Last night Draco had unveiled his 'masterpiece' including lyric sheets and badges for every single Slytherin member, it had been far too late for her to leave the common room unnoticed and she doubted that she could have spoken to Harry anyway.

She dressed quickly, pulling her curls into low pigtails to keep them from getting windswept later during the game and to offer her poor ears some protection from the bitter cold, promising herself that she would finally order some new earmuffs this week.

Shoving Daphne, somewhat gently, out of bed and prodding her to get dressed Eleanora noted that they were actually the last girls left in the dorm, customarily sleeping in on quidditch days because neither one of them had any real interest in the sport. She desperately hoped she could catch Harry before he left to get changed, forewarned is forearmed right?

They made their way to the great hall in record time, Daphne roughly shoving past Eleanora to sit at the Slytherin table, still a little bitter at being woken up so early, as Eleanora chose to linger at the entrance, eyes scanning the hall for familiar black hair. Initially a great deal of panic swelled inside her when she realised that he wasn't there, that she was too late, until she noticed the Weasley twins were still there along with other members of the team.

Some, here-to-fore, useless part of her brain supplied that usually quidditch teams left the great hall together to get changed, something about showing unity, and that Harry just hadn't come down for breakfast yet which calmed her immensely.

For some 20 minutes Eleanora lingered at the entrance of the great hall, feeling awkward but knowing it would cause more of a scene if she were to sit down at the Slytherin table and then get up and talk to Harry. When he suddenly appeared, guiding an inferi-like Ron in the right direction. Harry didn't notice her at first until she caught his arm and he stopped, Ron continuing on in his trajectory to the table not even noticing that Harry had let go of him.

Harry didn't even smile at the sight of her, going immediately to concerned because something had to be seriously wrong for her to grab him like this with so many of her people about.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked, voicing his concern immediately, not knowing how much time they would get before they were interrupted, well-aware that they were in full view of everyone in the Hall and it was only a moment of time before someone said something.

"Look, is there any way to make Ron deaf for, say… the duration of the match? Draco revealed last night that he's a songwriter now and he made up a ridiculous song specifically to taunt Ron, there are badges and everything!" She hissed, subtly showing him the crown badge she had clenched in her hand.

"I know he's already having a hard time, and I don't want my house making it worse for him!" Eleanora explained.

Okay, so maybe she was stretching the truth, she really didn't care that Weasley was a sensitive prat and would have gladly sung along. Except for the unfortunate fact that he was Harry friend, and it would reflect badly on her if she didn't show some level of concern for the people he cared about, as much as it drained her to do so.

Harry, fortunately oblivious to her internal monologue, smiled brilliantly at her.

"Thanks Nora, you're the best. I'll let him know about it."

. . .

Later, when asked about this moment, Eleanora would fully and completely blame Harry Potter and his stupid smile for what happened next.

That smile, the one that made the sun shine and the birds sing and made Eleanora Black completely forget herself and her sensibilities, and the boy behind it were fully responsible for her actions when she took a step closer and kissed him.

. . .

They broke apart when the wolf-whistles started, led, of course, by the Weasley twins. Other members of the DA followed suit with clapping a cheering while those that had no idea the Harry and Eleanora even knew each other whispered feverishly with their table mates.

Eleanora didn't dare let her eyes stray to her own table, knowing for sure that there would be a few faces that resembled sour lemons.

Looking up into Harry's eyes she could see that he was just as surprised with her very public actions. She managed to squeak out; 'good luck' in a voice that was far too breathy and girly for her liking and he smiled at her again, and Eleanora seriously needed to have a word with this boy about that smile… it was starting to become a problem.

Subconsciously her eye roved to the Slytherin table, she spotted Daphne smirking so hard Eleanora worried for a moment that she might be doing permanent damage to her face. Only a few seats down she also spotted Draco, who looked ready to blow his top, and yeah…she was absolutely going to hear about this after the match, and she wasn't going to enjoy it. Harry followed her gaze and saw Draco's expression, squeezing her waist in a reassuring way. Unintentionally alerting her to the fact that at some point during the, fairly brief, kiss they had wrapped themselves together, and honestly Eleanora wasn't sure she could get anymore embarrassed.

Before any outburst could occur, thankfully, the Gryffindor team took that moment to leave the Hall and prepare for the match. Also forcing Slytherin team to do the same.

As they passed, Eleanora stepped out of the embrace to avoid being swept up with the team. Angelina shoved a piece of toast at Harry on her way past, everyone else giving him cheers of encouragement and slaps on the back that left Eleanora wondering if she should be offended or flattered that they found it so hard to believe she and Harry had ended up together.

"How long have you and Potter been shagging huh?" Pansy Parkinson sneered when Eleanora sat down. Fully expecting this and not missing a beat Eleanora retorted primly;

"Just because you'll give it away to any bloke that asks Pansy doesn't mean we all stoop so low. Some of us have better breading than that I suppose…" She watched the girl splutter in indignation with a practiced expression of contempt on her face.

Eleanora knew that everyone left at the Slytherin table was watching her right now, and she had to make her lack of tolerance for these kinds of accusations clear or she would quickly lose respect. She had to be ruthless, something she quite enjoyed on occasion.

Buttering her toast as Daphne poured her a cup of tea, Eleanora felt that uncomfortable feeling of being watched. Giving in to the temptation she glance around in the direction of the uncomfortable sensation, the Head Table, there she found the source of the feeling. Headmaster Dumbledore was watching her with the most peculiar look on his face, Eleanora was unable to decipher it as he looked away the moment she caught his gaze, but none-the-less it left her feeling uncomfortable.

. . .

After a tense, and record-breakingly quick breakfast Eleanora and Daphne went back to the common room to grab their cloaks and scarves, before heading down to the pitch, Daphne complaining the entire time.

"Why'd you have to date a quidditch player huh? Now you're going to turn into one of _those_ girls who goes to every match and actually knows the rules and thinks it's an _interesting_ sport and not just idiots on brooms throwing a ball and hitting each other. And honestly Nora, I'm just going to have to stop being friends with you if you get like that…"

"Daph, I have no intention of being one of _those_ girls and you have my full permission to admit me to Mungo's if I ever become one. This is a one off match because I feel bad about not warning him about the singing earlier. He's in for a nasty shock if he thinks I'll be freezing my ass of all year watching his stupid games." Eleanora declared as they passed the gates of the stadium, stopping to buy 2 pasties and a bag of popcorn for later, the lines always got ridiculous after the game had started.

"So big question of the day, you're wearing house colours but are you supporting Slytherin team today?" Daphne asked mockingly as Eleanora paid for their treats and they trudged up the stairs.

"Don't be stupid! Of course I'm not supporting Slytherin, you aren't either!" Eleanora said with a laugh as they passed a group of Hufflepuff girls who scattered as they approached. Daphne snorted but nodded her head, it wasn't spoken about,

(Then again nothing ever is in their house, reading subtle signs is how you learn to survive.)

but ever since it was declared that girls would never be allowed to try out for the house team, support for Slytherin from the fairer sex had…evaporated.

They took seats that faced the middle of the pitch, Eleanora felt that this was the most unbiased position she could take, halfway between the Slytherin goals and the Gryffindor ones.

If she had the patience for deep contemplation, she would consider this a metaphor for her life, however she _really_ didn't. Instead she thought about how uncomfortable these seats were already and how she was going to last an entire game.

Her internal whining was halted by a small girl in Slytherin robes who came skipping up to them.

"Hiya! Where are your badges? I heard Draco spent heaps having them made." She asked sweetly, straightening her own badge that was pinned to her robes. Daphne rolled her eyes,

"Threw them away, serves the git right. He should be spending his money on Quidditch lessons they way I hear he plays. Has he even won a game?" She sneered, knowing it would get under the girl's skin.

"Don't insult my future husband like that! He may be rubbish at Quidditch, but he looks good while trying, and that's the main thing really." Astoria Greengrass, Daphne's baby sister, had been crushing on Draco since the Malfoy Christmas Ball of 1991 when he had asked her to dance.

(Or as Daphne described it, his mother had forced him to dance with every girl under the age of 17.)

"Don't let Pansy hear you talking like that, you'll wake up bald tomorrow." Eleanora said with a laugh, she enjoyed having Astoria around, she was a burst of energy, despite her infatuation with Draco.

"So, who are you barracking for to win?" Astoria asked as the stands started to fill up around them.

"Gryffindor of course! Do me a favour Tori and don't sing along." Eleanora asked the younger girl.

"Why? Are you dating Weasley too?" She asked innocently as Daphne started to choke with laughter beside her.

"You know what, never-mind Tor. Go find your friends." Eleanora said waving the little girl away with an eye-roll, she was being deliberately unhelpful, one of Astoria's favourite thing to do.

With a cheeky wink and a wave Tori ran back to where she had left her friends, although Eleanora noticed her take off her badge and slip it into her pocket, her friends copying a few moments later.

The cheering intensified as the teams took to the pitch, shook hands and then shot off to their positions as the balls were released. Both Harry and Draco taking off to opposite sides of the pitch and starting to circle in a way that reminded Eleanora eerily of vultures as Lee Jordan began to commentate on the action;

"And it's Johnson, Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years but she still won't go out with me —"

"JORDAN!" yelled Professor McGonagall.

"Just a fun fact, Professor, adds a bit of interest. Speaking of fun facts, Eleanora Black, a Slytherin with a Gryffindor boyfriend…wonder who she'll be supporting today…!"

Eleanora, who's cheeks were a deep pink, could hear McGonagall yelling at Lee but she had pulled the microphone away. Whatever she said had caused the boy to focus back on the game, something Eleanora was extremely grateful for.

"— and Johnson's ducked Warrington, she's passed Montague, she's — ouch — been hit from behind by a Bludger from Crabbe. . . . Montague catches the Quaffle, Montague heading back up the pitch and — nice Bludger there from George Weasley, that's a Bludger to the head for Montague, he drops the Quaffle, caught by Katie Bell, Katie Bell of Gryffindor reverse passes to Alicia Spinnet and Spinnet's away —"

Lee Jordan's commentary rang through the stadium as Eleanora found herself enthralled in the atmosphere of the game, so much so that she almost didn't mind that she was sitting on a frozen bench seat in winter… _almost_. The cheering and booing was deafening as the players zoomed through the air far quicker than she would ever be comfortable with, so she couldn't even really hear the singing coming from the Slytherin section, she silently prayed that the players couldn't hear it either.

"— dodges Warrington, avoids a Bludger — close call, Alicia — and the crowd are loving this, just listen to them, what's that they're singing?"

Eleanora buried her head in her palms, had she really just jinxed herself!

And as Lee paused to listen, the song rose loud and clear from the sea of green and silver in the Slytherin section of the stands:

 _Weasley cannot save a thing, He cannot block a single ring, That's why Slytherins all sing: Weasley is our King._

 _Weasley was born in a bin,_

 _He always lets the Quaffle in, Weasley will make sure we win, Weasley is our King._

"— and Alicia passes back to Angelina!" Lee shouted trying desperately to drown out the voices coming from the Green and Sliver section, but it was far too late now, Eleanora thought grimly. The Slytherin's had been given momentum, there was no drowning them out now, she could only hope that the game ended quickly from here.

"Come on now, Angelina — looks like she's got just the Keeper to beat! — SHE SHOOTS — SHE — aaaah . . ."

The Slytherin Keeper, had caught the ball; he threw it to… Warrington? Possibly. Who sped off with it, zigzagging in between two of the Gryffindor girls; the singing from the stands grew louder and louder as he drew nearer and nearer to Weasley —

 _Weasley is our King,_

 _Weasley is our King,_

 _He always lets the Quaffle in, Weasley is our King._

"— and it's Warrington with the Quaffle, Warrington heading for goal, he's out of Bludger range with just the Keeper ahead —"

A great swell of song rose from the Slytherin stands:

 _Weasley cannot save a thing,_

 _He cannot block a single ring . . ._

"— so it's the first test for new Gryffindor Keeper, Weasley, brother of Beaters, Fred and George, and a promising new talent on the team — come on, Ron!"

But the scream of delight came from the Slytherin end: Weasley had dived wildly, his arms flailing, and the ball had soared between them, even Eleanora could tell an easy goal.

"Slytherin score!" came Lee's voice amid the cheering and booing from the crowd. "So that's ten-nil to Slytherin — bad luck, Ron . . ."

Eleanora looked to the sky, searching for black messy hair, spotting him easily as he was stationary in the midair seemingly watching the game rather than searching for the snitch, was that normal? Apparently not, for only a few seconds later Angelina sped towards him and shouted… something, whatever it was made Harry take off and start circling the pitch again.

"— and Gryffindor back in possession and it's Katie Bell tanking up the pitch —" cried Lee valiantly,

"— and it's Warrington again," bellowed Lee, "who passes to Pucey, Pucey's off past Spinnet, come on now Angelina, you can take him — turns out you can't — but nice Bludger from Fred Weasley, I mean, George Weasley, oh who cares, one of them anyway, and Warrington drops the Quaffle and Katie Bell — er — drops it too — so that's Montague with the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Montague takes the Quaffle, and he's off up the pitch, come on now Gryffindor, block him!"

Eleanora crossed her gloved fingers and wished for _something_ , anything that that would turn the tide for Gryffindor. She was already calculating how many people in the DA would blame her for this spectacular loss, and possibly label her kiss with Harry as bad luck!

"— and Pucey's dodged Alicia again, and he's heading straight for goal, stop it, Ron!"

Eleanora did not have to look to see what had happened: There was a terrible groan from the Gryffindor end, coupled with fresh screams and applause from the Slytherins. Looking over, she saw a smug-faced Pansy Parkinson right at the front of the stands, her back to the pitch as she conducted the Slytherin supporters who were absolutely roaring now:

 _THAT'S WHY SLYTHERINS ALL SING: WEASLEY IS OUR KING._

"— and Katie Bell of Gryffindor dodges Pucey, ducks Montague, nice swerve, Katie, and she throws to Johnson, Angelina Johnson takes the Quaffle, she's past Warrington, she's heading for goal, come on now Angelina — GRYFFINDOR SCORE! It's forty-ten, forty- ten to Slytherin and Pucey has the Quaffle. . . ."

Eleanora stifled a cheer but could do nothing to stop the grin on her face, finally! Even Daphne gave a quiet squeal beside her, Eleanora turned to face her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh don't start! I'm not starting to like quidditch, I just have a vested interest in this particular game. I don't want to listen to you whine if they lose!" She spat although Eleanora could tell that there was no malice in her words. She just shook her head and turned her attention back to the commentary, because Merlin knows that she would have no idea what was going on without it.

"— Pucey throws to Warrington, Warrington to Montague, Montague back to Pucey — Johnson intervenes, Johnson takes the Quaffle, Johnson to Bell, this looks good — I mean bad — Bell's hit by a Bludger from Goyle of Slytherin and it's Pucey in possession again . . ."

Her attention was quickly diverted as she saw Harry start to free-fall from the sky, initially worried that something was wrong Eleanora stood up, hand clutching her chest in panic. Then Draco followed Harry down and she realised that they must have seen the Snitch, everyone else had also noticed as the two boys streaked towards the foot of the Slytherin goalposts. Everyone was screaming, even Lee on the microphone, but Eleanora could hardly care what they were saying, she was cheering as she kept her eyes firmly focused on the boy of her affections, as if her gaze could push him forward to beat out Malfoy.

And he did it! Harry pulled up at the last moment, fist clenched around a tiny object, he got it! That meant Gryffindor won right?! Judging by the cheering from the Gryffindor end and the booing from the Slytherin side, Eleanora was pretty positive that they had one, but she could hardly take her eyes off of the grinning boy holding the Snitch, oh _lord_ that smile…

WHAM!

Harry was propelled forward and off of his broom, Eleanora screamed in fright as he fell, fortunately only about 5 feet and landed flat on his back. A whistle sounded but Eleanora couldn't tear her eyes away from Harry until he was pulled to his feet by Angelina, until she was sure that he was okay.

She then noticed Madame Hooch yelling at Crabbe and pointing at his bat, well, that was certainly something she would have to take care of later, Eleanora made a mental note.

Everyone was descending the stands, no doubt to pre-planned celebration/commiseration parties as both teams hit the ground. Eleanora and Daphne gathered their uneaten food before following the crowds to the exit, she took one last look at the pitch and noticed that there was some sort of scuffle going on, but was swept out of view before she could get a good look. Not that it mattered, it wouldn't be too serious with teachers everywhere.

. . .

So, as it happens, it was serious. Daphne and Eleanora had settled down at one of the study tables intent on getting ahead with their homework before the weekend. There was no party, the song hadn't worked and there was a slight air of upset in the common-room, hardly unusual after a defeat, and hardly uncommon considering the standard of the Slytherin team.

Suddenly Draco burst in wearing a smile that was quite bold for the person who had essentially performed the worst during the match today.

"Potter is banned for life!" He crowed in victory, the rest of the team trailing in behind him wearing smiles and looks of joy. There were gasps and laughs as people took in the news, Eleanora sat very still in her seat, her face betraying none of her thoughts as she waited for Draco to elaborate as she knew he would.

"What happened?" Pansy asked gleefully for her.

"Stupid Potter attacked me after the game in full view of the teachers, the idiot. And the beaters tried to help him so I had Umbridge ban them all for life! The quidditch cup is as good as ours!" There were cheers as what Draco had said sunk in. They may have lost the game but they were sure that they would win the cup and that was enough for a celebration to begin.

Eleanora felt numb, and she certainly didn't want to celebrate. She began packing up her supplies, Daphne following her friend's lead without question, they started making their way towards the dormitories until Eleanora stopped in her tracks.

"Daph, can you take my stuff to the room? I'm going for a walk." She asked already passing over her things. Daphne nodded reluctantly, not wanting her friend wandering the castle alone after everything that had been revealed today.

Eleanora smiled to reassure her friend before turning and walking towards the portrait hole, she accidentally made eye-contact with Draco who was lounging on a couch, surrounded by friends. She maintained eye-contact for just a moment, enough to assert her dominance, before turning her back on him; a risky move as it left her open to being cursed, something she knew Draco wasn't opposed to doing, but she was confident enough that he wouldn't have the balls to curse her.

She made it through the portrait hole without incident, but she quickly ran down the few corridors to the main entrance, just in case he tried to follow her.

Finally free, Eleanora wandered aimlessly through the castle, no clear destination in mind until she realised that she was in the tower that housed Gryffindor common-room. She wondered how much of a party would be going on with three of their best players now banned for life? And considering it was Slytherin that got them banned, she doubted very much if she would be welcome if she were to announce her presence.

As if the castle were reading her thoughts, she turned the corner and bumped into Ronald Weasley.

Twice couldn't be a coincidence could it?

As soon as he recognised her he sneered;

"Are you hear to gloat? I bet you're so happy that Gryffindor are down three players, improves Slytherin's chances for winning the Quidditch cup!" He spat angrily, and Eleanora _knew_ that he was probably far more angry at himself and his performance than anything else, and she should _probably_ take pity on him. But something about this boy just rubbed her the wrong way, so instead of an apology she settled for;

"Do I look like someone who gives a damn about a stupid trophy Weasley?" she asked sarcastically, which only served to make the redhead angrier.

"I can't wait till Harry sees you're nothing but a dirty snake!" He snarled, and something about that particular insult made Eleanora snap as she raised her hand and slapped the stupid boy, _**hard**_.

Instead of retorting, Weasley made the smart decision to turn around and storm into his common-room, rubbing his cheek as he did so.

Figuring that he was as likely to tell Harry that she was out here as Umbridge riding a unicorn, Eleanora turned to leave thinking about hanging out in the DA room until curfew. She went to turn the same corner and bumped into yet another Gryffindor, this was starting to become problematic.

Fortunately this Gryffindor was younger than her, and in the DA. Collin, she thought his name was. He greeted her enthusiastically enough, which was something of a refreshing change, and asked if she would like him to get Harry for her.

She thought about declining and just walking away, she didn't know what kind of mood Harry would be in and if he would even want to see her. But Collin would probably tell him she had been outside anyway and it could get awkward if she said no, so she decided to smile gratefully and thank the boy who was already halfway to the portrait.

Seemingly instantly, Harry's head popped out of the portrait hole, grinning as he located her leaning casually against a wall. He clambered into the corridor and walked over to lean next to her.

"So, I take it you're responsible for Ron's foul temper…and the mark on his cheek?" He asked, sounding very amused, which Eleanora took as a good sign.

"I'm sorry Harry, he just rubs me the wrong way! I know he's your friend, but we just seem to bring out the worst in each other." She apologised, trying to sound sincere. Harry didn't seem too concerned, waving away her apology as unnecessary.

"Don't worry about it, he'd be in a foul mood anyway. It's way too easy to set him off, I'm just glad it wasn't my fault for a change!" Harry explained with a laugh, was that a crack Eleanora detected? Well, this would take some further investigating! Maybe she could get rid of Weasley after all.

They watched in silence as a few more Gryffindor's trickled down the corridor and into the common room before Harry grabbed her hand and pulled her down a hallway she hadn't noticed before, he opened the door closest to them and checked for signs of life before pulling her inside. It was an old classroom and far more private than the well travelled corridor, Harry still hadn't let go of her hand so Eleanora laced their fingers together, something that caused both of them to smile.

"I'm sorry about your ban, Draco was bragging about it in the common room. I don't think my good luck kiss was very lucky after all…" She apologised, swinging their entwined hands.

"I respectfully disagree, nothing life-threatening happened to me during the game so I think they are very lucky!" He argued with a smile.

"You fell off your broom!" She pointed out incredulously.

"Only a few feet!" Harry said, waving his free hand dismissively,

"Hardly life-threatening, so they are lucky! Speaking of life-threatening injuries thought; Angelina may tear me limb-from-limb when she finds me for getting banned for life, so I may be in need of some extra luck…?" He said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, making Eleanora laugh.

Leaning forward she presses their lips together, and sure they absolutely need to talk about this.

Half the school saw them locking lips only this morning and the rest surely would have heard about it by now.

But in this moment Eleanora felt happy, really truly _happy_ , and she didn't want to ruin it by having the 'what are we' conversation. It could wait for another day.

Seconds turned to minutes until air became a necessity, pulling away Harry regretfully untangled them.

"I'll go grab my cloak so I can walk you back, curfew is any minute now." He said, slipping away and into his common room as Eleanora took the opportunity to catch her breath and fix her appearance so as to not look so… dishevelled.

Harry returned barely a moment later, cloak in hand, and immediately entwined their fingers agin.

They walked in comfortable silence down to Eleanora's common room, happy just to be in each-other's presence without any quidditch rivalries or other drama to interfere.

Turning the last corner Eleanora suppressed a jump of fright. There, seemingly waiting for them, was her Head of House. Professor Snape looked distinctly unimpressed at the sight of them, pointedly glancing at their joined hands, but Eleanora did not let go of Harry. The three stood in tense silence for a moment before the Professor spoke;

"Mr. Potter, I suggest you hurry back to your common room if you intend on not breaking curfew. Miss Black, I would like a word with you in my office before you retire for the night." He turned and stalked down the hall into his office, Eleanora let go of Harry's hand the instant the Professor had turned around and began to follow her Head of House. She felt a hand on her arm and turned to see Harry's worried face, she smiled a tight lipped smile that offered no real reassurance, but it was all she could manage in the circumstances.

"I'll see you tomorrow yeah? Care of Magical Creatures." She said, kissing his cheek softly before walking into Professor Snape's office.

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 _ **AN:**_ _Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Daughter of Darkness, happy birthday to you!_

One year old this month! Oh. My. Gosh, words cannot even begin to describe the way I currently feel. When I first started this story it was a little idea that wouldn't leave my head until I wrote it down and sent it out into the world, one year and over 25,000 views later I am so humbled and grateful for the love and support everyone on this site has given me.

Every time I am in need of a confidence boost or feeling a little down, an alert pings letting me know that someone new has found my story and likes it enough to want to be updated. The biggest of thank-you's to everyone who has ever viewed, commented, followed or favourited this story and has stuck with me and my inconsistent updating! I love each and every one of you dearly, you have no idea!

There are a few more bends in the story that is Harry & Eleanora and I hope you enjoy the rest of this story as much as you have the beginning.

All of the love I possess goes to you,

Wendy xx

One year. No change. The HP universe belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing in it.


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